Controlling Vibration Exposure When Drilling into Concrete: Findings from Two Studies

Details

• Personal Author:
  Antonucci A ; Barr A ; Martin B ; Rempel D
• Description:
  Background: Drilling large holes into concrete is commonly performed in commercial construction to attach anchor bolts and rebar in order to hang pipes or to add concrete to an existing structure. Exposure to vibration may lead to musculoskeletal disorders including hand-arm vibration syndrome. Findings from 2 studies evaluating the effects of force on bit and drill type on handle vibration levels are presented. Methods: A validated robotic test bench system (Int J Ind Ergon 2017; 62:17-20) was used to repeatedly drive a drill bit, under force control, into concrete block (19 mm diameter, 100 mm depth), while both productivity and handle vibration were measured according to ISO standards (28927-10; 5349-1). The first study compared an electric rotary drill to a pneumatic rock drill of similar mass. The second study used an electric drill repeatedly drilling holes with different feed forces in the 120 to 220 N range. Results: For the first experiment, the mean weighted total handle vibration was significantly lower (p=0.002) for the electric drill (7.15 +/- 0.11 m/s2) than the pneumatic drill (39.1 +/- 2.5 m/s2). Productivity was not significantly different (p=0.15) between the electric drill (9.09 +/- 0.09 mm/s) and the pneumatic drill (8.69 +/- 0.37mm/s). For the second study, from 120 to 170 N of feed force, the total handle vibration level increased from 7.5 to 8.5 m/s2 and productivity increased from 9.6 to 11.2 mm/s. However, between 170 and 220 N of feed force, changes in vibration level and productivity were negligible. Conclusions: Contractors and construction workers should be advised to consider using an electric rotary drill instead of pneumatic drill for drilling into concrete. In addition, workers should be notified that applying large push forces to an electric drill does not increase productivity but may increase the risk of fatigue and injury. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety Vibration
• Keywords:
  Construction Equipment Construction Workers Drilling Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome HAVS MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Pneumatic Equipment Rock Drillers Vibration Exposure
• Publisher:
  International Commission on Occupational Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Maryland ; Michigan ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062987
• Citation:
  10th International Scientific Conference on Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PREMUS 2019): From research to evidence based sustainable interventions and practices, September 2-5, 2019, Bologna, Italy. Rome, Italy: International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), 2019 Sep; :143
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  10th International Scientific Conference on Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PREMUS 2019): From research to evidence based sustainable interventions and practices, September 2-5, 2019, Bologna, Italy
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:604cab4f84857cd0a7875ac5f59557f2f2c266b16e79d00881e4840eb4369478c56872bacd01499f5aaf1e2e7a736157852b09b7dffff62a506549550622a474
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226130/cdc_226130_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 99.32 KB ]