Understanding and Lowering the Risk of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Riley, Danny A.
• Description:
  What should the worker know and do? Understand when at risk for HAVS when work regularly with sinusoidal hand powered tools more than a few hours each day or 15 minutes a day with impact tools. Recognize symptoms of vibration injury: Tingling and numbness in the fingers, cold exposure triggers finger blanching (vibration white finger), and weakness in the hands. Try to lower risk; Use low vibration and well maintained tools, short duration use, avoid over-gripping, warm tool handles, keep hands dry and warm, avoid nicotine, consider wearing antivibration gloves. Proactive awareness: Recognize early signs of HAVS, report symptoms to health officer and employee representative. Guidelines for safe use of vibrating power tools: 1. Avoid bare hand contact to guide chisels, sockets, bucking bars and metal work pieces (you cannot feel the full energy of high Hz shock waves). 2. Avoid increasing vibration-induced blood vessel constriction by using nicotine and exposing hands to cold temperature; keep hands dry and gloved to reduce loss of heat. 3. Grasp tool as lightly as feasible to reduce energy transfer. 4. Take 10 min breaks? (this is not documented; if works, positive effect may be from reduced daily exposure to vibration). 5. Rotate off work tasks using vibrating tools to minimize daily exposure and not exceed daily exposure limits. 6. Use low vibration tools and maintain tools to minimize vibration. What should the employer know and do? Know what jobs are vibration hazardous, accelerations of sinusoidal and impact tools used and duration of vibration exposure. Provide training, protective gear, low vibration tools good work practices, gloves, tool maintenance. Understand hand-arm vibration syndrome early signs and symptoms and health effects. Establish health surveillance and monitoring, identify workers at risk, catch early (reversible) disease, prevent disease progression and disability assess efficacy of vibration reduction measures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Education Environmental Exposure Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Staff Development Vibration Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Construction Construction Equipment Construction Industry Employees Exposure Levels Hand Injuries Hand Tools Injuries Power Tools Risk Factors Safety Equipment Safety Measures Safety Practices Safety Programs Training Vibration Exposure Work Areas Work Environment Workers Worker Safety

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• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 5 ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-18
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052517
• Citation:
  Indiana Safety and Health Conference and Expo, February 18-20, 2014, Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Chamber of Commerce, 2014 Feb; :1-18
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Medical College of Wisocnsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19990901
• Source Full Name:
  Indiana Safety and Health Conference and Expo, February 18-20, 2014, Indianapolis, Indiana
• End Date:
  20160831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d2e78369dbdbb483b0ee9fb54049f7ceece539bcd50959f5e6c1a45a28d04a234b7fd413413cc317f1052939b06be7c3d0c73129de7d9a7ae30c745a3197719d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212030/cdc_212030_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.05 MB ]