Workplace vibration management

Since the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations came into effect in 2005, employers have faced over 10,000 claims for Vibration White Finger and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – the result of a failure to adequately assess workers’ vibration risk. And despite the availability of numerous devices for monitoring vibration exposure, hundreds of new claims flood in every year. 

Traditional vibration risk assessments (and even seemingly advanced tool timers) calculate exposure using assumed vibration values. However tool vibration can vary enormously with work-piece, tool condition, the material being worked upon, and user application. Curotec believes the level of HSE Exposure Points calculated using assumed values is at best an educated guess, and at worst, a dangerous underestimate of the true level of risk.

Mike Jones, Curotec’s founder, says: “Q2 is the only HSE-compliant personal vibration monitor that measures actual vibration emissions on the tool, as demanded by the regulations. And Q2’s real-time alerts warn operators before they reach daily exposure limits.”

Real-time measurement and reporting of exposure gives employers total transparency of workers’ risk. And by enabling employers to accurately measure the success of efforts to minimise risk, it promotes an evidence-based approach to reducing vibration exposure to ‘as low as reasonably practical’ – a fundamental legal requirement.

Jones says, “Q2’s on-the-tool measurement and cloud-based reporting promote strict legal compliance, and supply the data to prove it.”

Curotec will be at Safety & Health Expo - Stand SH2052