Whole-body vibration

Whole-body vibration The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 Guidance on Regulations

This is a free-to-download, web-friendly version of L141, (First edition, published 2005). This version has been adapted for online use from HSE’s current printed version.

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ISBN 978 0 7176 6126 8 Price £10.95

Exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV), particularly to large shocks and jolts, is a back-pain health risk for employees who drive mobile machines or other work vehicles over poor surfaces as a main part of their job.

Employers have a duty to control health risks to their employees from exposure to WBV under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (the Vibration Regulations).

This book will be of particular interest to employers in industries where there may be a health risk from WBV include agriculture, construction, forestry, mines and quarries. Risks may also exist where industrial trucks are used to transport materials, eg in factories, depots, warehouses and docks, particularly where the surfaces the trucks travel on are in poor condition or the drivers use poor driving techniques.

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© Crown copyright 2005

First published 2005

ISBN 978 0 7176 6126 8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to: The Office of Public Sector Information, Information Policy Team, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU or e-mail: licensing@opsi.gov.uk

This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance as illustrating good practice.

Contents Introduction 4

Part 1: Legal duties of employers to control the risks to health and safety from whole-body vibration 6

Regulation 1 Citation and commencement 6 Regulation 2 Interpretation 6 Regulation 3 Application and transitional provisions 7 Regulation 4 Exposure limit values and action values 10 Regulation 5 Assessment of the risk to health created by vibration at the workplace 11 Regulation 6 Elimination or control of exposure to vibration at the workplace 16 Regulation 7 Health surveillance 21 Regulation 8 Information, instruction and training 23 Regulation 9 Exemption certificates for emergency services 25 Regulation 10 Exemption certificates for air transport 26 Regulation 11 Exemptions relating to the Ministry of Defence 27 Regulation 12 Extension outside Great Britain 27 Regulation 13 Amendments 28

Schedule 1 Hand-arm vibration 28 Schedule 2 Whole-body vibration 30

Part 2: An introduction to whole-body vibration for employers 31

Part 3: Risk assessment and control 33

Part 4: Machinery manufacturers’ duties on whole-body vibration risks 42

Part 5: Health monitoring 47

Part 6: Postural risks 49

Appendix 1 Selecting a competent person 50 Appendix 2 Examples of WBV measurements 51 Appendix 3 Sample health monitoring questionnaire 53

References 54 Further reading 55 Further information 56

Introduction 1 Exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV), particularly to large shocks and jolts, is a back-pain health risk for employees who drive mobile machines or other work vehicles over poor surfaces as a main part of their job. The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 20051 (the Vibration Regulations) require employers to control the health risks to their employees from exposure to WBV. The main industries where there may be a health risk from WBV include agriculture, construction, forestry, mines and quarries. Risks may also exist where industrial trucks are used to transport materials, eg in factories, depots, warehouses and docks, particularly where the surfaces the trucks travel on are in poor condition or the drivers use poor driving techniques.

2 Vehicles such as vans, lorries and buses, which are normally driven on well- maintained public roads, may also expose their drivers to some WBV, but the levels are likely to be relatively low and therefore the likelihood of related health risks is low. Some drivers of road-going vehicles may report back pain, but this is more likely to be caused by other factors such as poor posture, prolonged periods confined to the driver’s seat or doing related work such as regular manual lifting and carrying of vehicle loads. However, there may be some work activities where road-going vehicles may expose their drivers to higher levels of WBV. For example, where drivers regularly have to take their vehicles off-road or along unadopted roads or tracks such as farm tracks or construction site roadways. Where this is the case, employers may need to consider the guidance in this book.

3 While this book is mainly concerned with the health risks from WBV, it also suggests that you try to prevent back pain in your employees by taking a holistic approach which includes managing the other risks of back pain. For example, there may risks of back pain where a mobile-machine driver may be forced to adopt a strained posture in the vehicle cab for long periods, or where their duties include frequently loading or unloading a vehicle manually. Tackling all these risk factors together is more likely to succeed in eliminating back problems in your workforce.

4 The main ways to control risk from WBV described in this book are generally easy to carry out, and often involve normal good management practices. They include choosing suitable machines and vehicles for particular tasks, training drivers to operate them in ways which avoid unnecessary bumping and jolting, and keeping site roadways and vehicle work areas as level as possible by filling in potholes and removing rubble and debris.

5 HSE is commissioning research in collaboration with a number of industry representative bodies to establish likely levels of WBV for a variety of industrial machines and vehicles carrying out different tasks. The results of this research will help employers to decide where the main risks are and to decide which control methods will be most effective. Some results are already available and can be found at HSE’s vibration website (www.hse.gov.uk/vibration). More will be published as they become available.

The guidance

6 This book contains in-depth guidance on the Vibration Regulations as they relate to whole-body vibration. It does not contain guidance on those parts of the Regulations which apply only to hand-arm vibration. Guidance on those parts of the Regulations is provided in a separate book (Hand-arm vibration. The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. Guidance on Regulations L140).2 The parts of the Regulations which apply specifically to hand-arm vibration are identified by grey shading.

7 General health and safety regulations, supported by HSE guidance, have required employers to control the risks from vibration and protect their employees since the early 1990s. However, the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 20051 now place specific duties on employers. The Vibration Regulations are based on a European Union Directive3 requiring similar basic laws throughout the Union on reducing the risks of vibration-related diseases. If employers comply with the Vibration Regulations and follow HSE’s guidance, it will be possible to stop employees developing advanced stages of these diseases. The requirements are straightforward and will easy for employers to carry out.

8 The legal duties described in this book are in addition to the general obligations to safeguard workers’ health (including the effects of vibration) which employers have had since 1975 under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 19744 (the HSW Act). These general obligations also apply to safeguarding the health of people who are not employees, such as students, voluntary workers, visitors and members of the public. Employees also have duties under the HSW Act to take care of their own health and safety and that of others whom their work may affect; and to co-operate with employers so that they may comply with health and safety law.

9 This book is divided into colour-coded parts to help readers go directly to the information that is most relevant to them. Other useful information is in a series of appendices.

Part 1: Guidance on the Regulations

10 Part 1 of the book includes the text of the Vibration Regulations and explains what they mean and what they require you to do. It sets out your legal obligations as an employer to control risks to health and safety from exposure to whole- body vibration (WBV), in particular, risks of back pain in drivers and operators of work machines and vehicles. This part will also be of interest to health and safety professionals.

Parts 2-6: Guidance for employers

11 Part 2 is a practical guide for employers on carrying out a risk assessment, estimating vibration exposure, controlling risks, arranging health monitoring, understanding the duties of machinery manufacturers and suppliers to their customers and how to obtain competent help with your assessment and control of risks.

12 HSE has also produced a free leaflet and quick-reference pocket card about the new requirements. For employers, leaflet Control back-pain risks from whole- body vibration INDG242(rev1)5 includes a brief introduction to the Vibration Regulations and provides the essential information that you will need to be able to comply with them. The pocket card Drive away bad backs: Advice for mobile machine operators and drivers INDG4046 contains straightforward advice for employees. Both can be obtained from HSE Books (see Further information at the back of this book for details) or downloaded from HSE’s vibration website at www. hse.gov.uk/vibration.

PART 1: LEGAL DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS TO CONTROL THE RISKS TO HEALTH AND SAFETY FROM WHOLE-BODY VIBRATION

Citation and commencement Regulation Regulation 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 1 2005 and shall come into force on 6th July 2005.

Interpretation Regulation Regulation 2 (1) In these Regulations -

“daily exposure” means the quantity of mechanical vibration to which a worker is exposed during a working day, normalised to an 8-hour reference period, which takes account of the magnitude and duration of the vibration;

“emergency services” include -

(a) police, fire, rescue and ambulance services; (b) Her Majesty’s Coastguard;

“enforcing authority” means the Executive or local authority, determined in accordance with the provisions of the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998;(a)

“exposure action value” means the level of daily exposure set out in regulation 4 for any worker which, if reached or exceeded, requires specified action to be taken to reduce risk;

“exposure limit value” means the level of daily exposure set out in regulation 4 for any worker which must not be exceeded, save as set out in regulation 6(5);

“the Executive” means the Health and Safety Executive;

“hand-arm vibration” means mechanical vibration which is transmitted into the hands and arms during a work activity;

“health surveillance” means assessment of the state of health of an employee, as related to exposure to vibration;

“mechanical vibration” means vibration occurring in a piece of machinery or equipment or in a vehicle as a result of its operation;

“risk assessment” means the assessment of risk required by regulation 5; 2 (a) S.I. 1998/494, as amended by S.I. 1999/2024, S.I.1999/3232, S.I. 2002/2675, and S.I. 2004/3168.

Regulation “whole-body vibration” means mechanical vibration which is transmitted into the body, when seated or standing, through the supporting surface, during a work activity or as described in regulation 5(3)(f); and

“working day” means a daily working period, irrespective of the time of day when it begins or ends, and of whether it begins or ends on the same calendar day.

(2) In these Regulations, a reference to an employee being exposed to vibration is a reference to the exposure of that employee to mechanical vibration arising out of 2 or in connection with his work.

Application and transitional provisions Regulation Regulation 3 (1) These Regulations shall have effect with a view to protecting persons against risk to their health and safety arising from exposure to vibration at work.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), regulation 6(4) shall not apply until 6th July 2010 where work equipment is used which-

(a) was first provided to employees prior to 6th July 2007 by any employer; and (b) does not permit compliance with the exposure limit values,

but in using such equipment the employer shall take into account the latest technical advances and the organisational measures taken in accordance with regulation 6(2).

(3) For the agriculture and forestry sectors, regulation 6(4) shall not apply to whole-body vibration until 6th July 2014 in respect of work equipment which-

(a) was first provided to employees prior to 6th July 2007 by any employer; and (b) does not permit compliance with the exposure limit value for whole-body vibration,

but in using such equipment the employer shall take into account the latest technical advances and the organisational measures taken in accordance with regulation 6(2).

(4) Where a duty is placed by these Regulations on an employer in respect of his employees, he shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be under a like duty in respect of any other person, whether at work or not, who may be affected by the work carried out by the employer except that the duties of the employer -

(a) under regulation 7 (health surveillance) shall not extend to persons who are not his employees; and

Regulation (b) under regulation 8 (information, instruction and training) shall not extend to persons who are not his employees, unless those persons are on the premises where the work is being carried out.

(5) These Regulations shall apply to a self-employed person as they apply to an employer and an employee and as if that self-employed person were both an employer and an employee, except that regulation 7 shall not apply to a self- employed person.

(6) These Regulations shall not apply to the master or crew of a ship or to the employer of such persons in respect of the normal shipboard activities of a ship’s crew which are carried out solely by the crew under the direction of the master, and for the purposes of this paragraph “ship” includes every description of vessel 3 used in navigation, other than a ship forming part of Her Majesty’s Navy.

Guidance Purpose

13 The Vibration Regulations are designed to protect against risks to both health and safety from whole-body vibration, ie the risk of back pain in those exposed and situations where vibration may affect ability to handle controls or read indicators.

Transitional periods

14 Regulation 3(2) and (3) defers the application of the exposure limit value (see regulations 4(2) and 6(4)) until 6 July 2010 (or for agriculture and forestry, until 6 July 2014) where it is not reasonably practicable to comply with it, if you are using a machine or vehicle which was already in use before 6 July 2007.

15 The transitional period applies only to the exposure limit value. The other requirements of the Regulations came into force from 6 July 2005 and must be complied with from that date.

16 The purpose of the transitional period is to allow:

(a) a reasonable period of time for you to introduce new working methods which eliminate vibration exposure or reduce it to below the exposure limit value; (b) time for machines or vehicles with reduced vibration emission to be developed and introduced.

17 The transitional period is intended to apply to older machinery (first brought into use before 6 July 2007) which, in normal use, may cause employees to be exposed above the exposure limit value. You can continue to use such machinery (ie your own existing machine, or a second-hand machine you may have purchased, or older machines from hire companies) right up to 6 July 2010 (2014), but only if it is not reasonably practicable to purchase or hire newer, lower vibration machines or to introduce alternative working methods which would reduce exposures below the exposure limit value. If you make use of the transitional period, you will need to keep the availability of lower vibration equipment or work methods under regular review. If it becomes reasonably practicable for you to introduce lower vibration equipment or work methods before 6 July 2010 (2014), then you must do so.

18 It is important to remember that the transitional period is not a licence to do nothing at all. Even if you cannot reduce exposures below the exposure limit value, you must reduce them to as low a level as is reasonably practicable (see regulation 6(2)) and plan your longer-term strategy for getting exposures below the limit value by July 2010 (2014).

Guidance 19 Any equipment first brought into use after 6 July 2007, whether bought or hired, will need to be used in a way that will keep vibration exposure below the exposure limit value. So you will need to choose and manage the use of such equipment carefully to ensure the exposure limit value is not exceeded.

People not your employees

20 Sometimes your activities may cause employees of other employers, or other people, to be exposed to vibration, for example where subcontractors use machines for work you specify and control, or where volunteers are engaged alongside workers. Regulation 3(4) applies to all the employers involved and each will have a responsibility:

(a) to their own employees; (b) so far as is reasonably practicable, to anyone else who is exposed to vibration in work activities under their control.

21 This responsibility applies to all the duties under the Vibration Regulations except that information, instruction and training (regulation 8) need only be given to others’ employees in relation to the specific job they are undertaking for you.

22 Health surveillance (regulation 3(4)(a)) is not appropriate for WBV because it is considered that no methods currently exist for detecting changes in peoples’ backs which can reliably indicate the early onset of changes (which may cause low back pain) that are specifically related to workplace