Tips for reducing your staffs’ vibration exposure

• Completely eliminate vibration exposure, by using remote-controlled machinery, instead of hand-guided.
• Reduce vibration at-source, by selecting low-vibration machinery at the procurement stage.  Many good manufacturers have begun fitting vibration-damping elements (usually sprung or rubber mounts) into the design of their machinery. Ensure you know the vibration ratings for any new machinery before you buy it, and check that it offers significantly lower vibration values than that of other competing products.
• Battery-powered or electric tools usually have less vibration than those powered by petrol or diesel engines.
• Get your staff to rotate tasks (“dilution” of exposure), to ensure that high-vibration tasks are shared between many people, to minimise the risk of lasting harm to individuals.
• With a little (usually straightforward) engineering, it is possible to retro-fit rubber or sprung vibration-damping mountings into many machines.
• Ensure regular inspection and maintenance of your tools. Worn or damaged components should be replaced, to minimise vibration levels. Servicing and lubrication are essential to keep engines and components running smoothly.
• Software such as ToolFleet can be useful for managing the inspection and maintenance of your machinery. ToolFleet links to the same asset-register as Vibecalc, which can help to reduce your admin, because when you update asset-data in your VibeCalc account, the change appears in ToolFleet, and vice versa.