How to Buy Safer, Quieter Tools: A Process Management Approach to Reducing Noise and Hand-Arm Vibration While Improving Productivity and Quality

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beamer B ; Geiger M ; Zechmann, Edward L.
• Description:
  Powered hand tools have become essential to a range of industrial operations since Samuel Ingersoll invented the pneumatic drill in 1871. However, progress often comes with risk. Potential hazards associated with hand-held powered tool use include noise, hand-arm vibration, and a range of ergonomic stresses and physical safety hazards. Acute physical injuries from failure or misuse of the control or trigger mechanism are a particular concern, especially for products such as nail guns. At the same time, many companies using power tools fail to employ a process management approach to selection, procurement, and maintenance, or to educate users of these tools. This often results in unnecessary exposures to noise, vibration, and other physical hazards, as well as impaired productivity and quality. Because few purchasing groups are trained in safety, they are unlikely to consider the hazards and lifecycle costs associated with operating power tools. Efforts to promote purchasing of tools with lower lifecycle costs have failed due to a lack of regulatory criteria, misguided pressure to purchase the tools with the lowest initial costs, and poor understanding of hazardous exposures. Concurrently, safety and health professionals have often failed to influence the purchasing process. A purchasing and process management standard was needed to correct these failings and to stimulate the market conditions for manufacturing and purchasing of power tools that optimize productivity and minimize lifecycle costs. This article outlines a process management approach to the purchase of powered hand-held tools promoted in SAE International Standard AS6228, "Safety Requirements for Procurement, Maintenance and Use of Hand-held Powered Tools." [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Case Reports Ergonomics Hazardous Substances Hearing Hearing Loss Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Protective Clothing Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Case Studies Cost Analyses Costs Equipment Design Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome Hand Protection Hand Tools HAVS Hazard Controls Hazard Recognition Hearing Conservation Hearing Loss Prevention Industrial Equipment Injuries Nail Guns Noise Control Noise Exposure Noise Levels Noise Protection Physical Stress Pneumatic Tools Power Tools Process Control Risk Factors Risk Management Safety Education Tools

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• ISSN:
  1066-7660
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  26-30
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050884
• Citation:
  Synergist 2018 Jan; 29(1):26-30
• Contact Point Address:
  Edward Zechmann, MS, PE, INCE bd. cert., U.S. Public Health Service officer, NIOSH, Hearing Loss Prevention Team
• Email:
  EZechmann@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Synergist
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c6b8c80fa4b08498ee8f7e5ab9cca182e02562801cbdc503eda8f350a459fc6c4cf37a585deccd6342df20b0af46b1b8692c2ee9ff95b3b4550715e667b5d320
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211076/cdc_211076_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 215.56 KB ]