Hand Arm Vibration Toolbox Talk

Vibration takes your hands one shift at a time

It does not announce itself. HSE describes the early signs as tingling and numbness in the fingers, bad enough to disturb sleep, then not being able to feel things with your fingertips, then losing the strength to pick up or hold heavy objects. Later comes vibration white finger: the tips go white, then red, and hurt on the way back.

The progression is the part that matters. It ends in permanent numbness, trouble handling screws and nails, and white finger attacks that spread across more fingers and happen more often. HSE puts it plainly: HAVS is preventable, but once the damage is done it is permanent.

The threshold is lower than almost anyone guesses

HSE’s own guidance flags people at risk if they use hammer tools for more than about 15 minutes a day, or rotary tools for more than about an hour a day. That is not a heavy day of breaking out. That is a normal morning with an SDS drill or a grinder, which is why this talk is really about one number nobody tracks: how long the trigger is actually held down.

What the law requires

The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 set two numbers, and both are daily exposures. That means they depend on trigger time just as much as on the tool, and exposure adds up across every tool someone touches in a shift. HSE also expresses them as exposure points, which is far easier to use on site.

• Assess it. Assess the vibration risk to the people doing the work, record the assessment and the control actions, and review them. Vibration Regs 2005, reg. 5.
• At the action value, act. At 2.5 m/s2 A(8), or 100 points, put in a programme of controls to eliminate the risk or reduce exposure as low as reasonably practicable. Vibration Regs 2005, regs. 4 and 6.
• At the limit value, stop. At 5 m/s2 A(8), or 400 points, take immediate action to bring exposure back below it. Vibration Regs 2005, regs. 4 and 6.
• Watch and tell. Provide health surveillance where there is a risk, keep the records, and give people information and training on the risks and the controls. Vibration Regs 2005, regs. 7 and 8.

The points system, which is the useful bit

• 100 points is the exposure action value, the same thing as 2.5 m/s2 A(8)
• 400 points is the exposure limit value, the same thing as 5 m/s2 A(8)
• Points add up across every tool used in the day, so two hours of drilling plus an hour of grinding is one exposure, not two small ones
• Points per hour for a given tool tells you the trigger time that reaches each value, which is the number to plan the day around

Source: The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005; HSE, Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005; HSE, Hand-arm vibration at work: a brief guide (INDG175); HSE, the hand-arm vibration exposure calculator. HAVS and carpal tunnel syndrome are reportable under RIDDOR 2013, reg. 9.

Where the exposure comes from

• Breakers and concrete work. The highest magnitudes on most sites, and the tasks that run for hours because nobody is counting the trigger time.
• Hammer drills and SDS. HSE puts hammer tools used for more than about 15 minutes a day into the at-risk range, which is less than most people would guess.
• Angle grinders and cut-off saws. Rotary tools for more than about an hour a day get you to the same place.
• Impact wrenches, needle guns and sanders. Quieter jobs that still accumulate points steadily all shift.
• Blunt and worn consumables. A dull disc or a worn chisel means more force, more time and more vibration for the same work.
• Gripping too hard. The tighter you hold and the harder you push, the more vibration goes into your hands.
• Cold and wet hands. Cold reduces blood flow to the fingers and makes the damage worse. Winter outside work is the bad combination.
• Trigger time nobody counts. Exposure is a daily total across every tool, and it is the one figure most sites cannot tell you.
• Anti-vibration gloves treated as the answer. They keep hands warm, which helps, but they are not a reliable way to reduce exposure and should never be the control.
• Symptoms kept quiet. Tingling and numbness get put down to a hard week. Reported early they can be managed; ignored, they become permanent.

Controls to brief your crew on

• Take the job away from the tool. Materials cut to size, cast-in fixings, pre-drilled steel, or a remote-controlled breaker instead of a hand-held one.
• Pick the lowest magnitude tool that will do it. Ask for the manufacturer’s vibration data before it is hired, and choose on that as well as on price.
• Keep consumables sharp. New discs, sharp chisels and properly dressed wheels cut faster with less force and less vibration.
• Treat trigger time as a budget. Work out the points per hour for the tool, then decide how long anyone can be on it before something has to change.
• Rotate the task. Splitting a breaking job across three people is often the difference between under the action value and over the limit.
• Let the tool do the work. Guide it rather than forcing it, and use a support, jig or trolley where one exists.
• Keep hands warm and dry. Gloves for warmth, somewhere to warm up, and no working with cold wet hands on a vibrating tool all morning.
• Maintain the kit. Worn bearings, damaged mounts and missing anti-vibration handles all raise the magnitude above the figure in the data sheet.
• Take up the health checks and report symptoms as soon as you notice them. Tingling, numbness, white fingertips or a weaker grip all count.
• Report a tool that has got worse. If a machine is shaking more than it used to, it is telling you something and it should come off the job.

Source: HSE, Hand-arm vibration; HSE, Worried about your hands?; HSE, INDG175; Vibration Regs 2005, regs. 6 to 8.

Who is competent to do this work

• Whoever assesses the exposure must be able to work out daily exposure from the tool magnitude and the real trigger time, not just read a figure off a sticker.
• Whoever plans the work needs to understand that exposure is a daily total across every tool, so sequencing and rotation are part of the control.
• Health surveillance is run by a competent occupational health provider, tiered from a questionnaire through to assessment by a doctor.
• Everyone using vibrating tools is entitled to training on the risks, the controls, and the symptoms to look out for and report.

Paperwork that should be in place

• The vibration risk assessment, based on real trigger times, recorded and reviewed as the work changes.
• Tool vibration data from manufacturers or the hire company, held for the kit actually on site.
• Daily exposure calculations or a points-based ready reckoner for the main tasks.
• Health surveillance records for everyone in the programme, with referrals and outcomes followed up.
• Training records covering the risks, the controls and the symptoms.
• RIDDOR reports for any diagnosed case of HAVS or carpal tunnel syndrome, and the review that followed it.

Five questions to get the crew talking

1. Which tool on this site do you spend the longest actually holding the trigger down on?
2. Does anyone know the vibration figure for the breaker or drill we are using this week?
3. When did we last change the discs or chisels, and are they still cutting?
4. Has anyone got tingling or numb fingers in bed, or trouble picking up small things?
5. Could this week’s breaking or drilling be shared out, or the material ordered ready cut?

How to run this toolbox talk

1. Read it first and add your site detail: which tools, which tasks, what the trigger times actually are.
2. Pick the moment. Start of shift, at the workface, ten minutes maximum.
3. Time one task. Put a stopwatch on the trigger for one job so people can see how fast the points add up.
4. Ask about symptoms directly. Tingling at night is the question that gets the honest answers.
5. Pair it with the noise toolbox talk, since the same tools cause both problems.
6. Record who attended on the free toolbox talk sign-in sheet.

Frequently asked questions

What are the hand-arm vibration exposure limits?

The exposure action value is 2.5 m/s2 A(8), which HSE also expresses as 100 exposure points. The exposure limit value is 5 m/s2 A(8), or 400 points. Both are daily exposures averaged over eight hours, so they depend on how long the tool is actually used as well as how much it vibrates.

How long can you use a breaker or a hammer drill for?

It depends on the magnitude of the specific tool, which is why the points per hour figure matters. As a rule of thumb HSE flags workers as at risk if they use hammer tools for more than about 15 minutes a day, or rotary tools such as grinders and sanders for more than about an hour a day.

What are the first symptoms of HAVS?

Tingling and numbness in the fingers, often bad enough to disturb sleep, not being able to feel things properly with your fingertips, and loss of grip strength. Vibration white finger, where the tips go white then red and are painful on recovery, usually comes later. Report any of these promptly.

Do anti-vibration gloves solve the problem?

No. They are useful for keeping hands warm, which does help, but they are not a reliable way of reducing vibration exposure and should never be relied on as the control. The controls that work are eliminating the task, choosing lower-vibration tools, keeping consumables sharp and limiting trigger time.

Is HAVS reportable?

Yes. Hand-arm vibration syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome are both reportable occupational diseases under RIDDOR 2013, regulation 9, where the work involves regular use of percussive or vibrating tools. A diagnosis should also trigger a review of the assessment and the controls.

Does the damage get better if you stop?

Stopping or reducing exposure can prevent it getting worse, and early symptoms are sometimes reversible, which is exactly why reporting early matters. But HSE is clear that once the damage is done it is permanent, so the point of the controls is to act before that stage.