Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study
Background: Standardized exposure assessments were conducted to quantify the historical occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration of workers in the German construction, underground coal mining, woodworking, and metalworking industries. Methods: A two-step approach was used to assess historical vib...
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Safety and Health at Work |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791125000010 |
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| author | Yi Sun Frank Bochmann Winfried Eckert Benjamin Ernst Christian Freitag Uwe Kaulbars Uwe Nigmann Christina Samel Christian van den Berg Nastaran Raffler |
| author_facet | Yi Sun Frank Bochmann Winfried Eckert Benjamin Ernst Christian Freitag Uwe Kaulbars Uwe Nigmann Christina Samel Christian van den Berg Nastaran Raffler |
| author_sort | Yi Sun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Standardized exposure assessments were conducted to quantify the historical occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration of workers in the German construction, underground coal mining, woodworking, and metalworking industries. Methods: A two-step approach was used to assess historical vibration exposure. In the first step, individual work histories were reconstructed by standardized personal interviews. The interview focused on the identification of relevant power tools used throughout the working life. In the second step, an equipment-exposure-matrix was constructed by industrial hygiene measurements. By linking the power tools in the work history to the equipment-exposure-matrix, individual daily, and long-term vibration exposures can be quantified. Results and conclusions: A total of 423 power tools were identified for 5,115 exposure segments over a period of 50 years. 97.2% of the vibration values were based on industrial hygiene measurements. The total vibration value (ahv) of the power tools used varied between 0.8 m/s2 and 65.2 m/s2 with a median value of 14.2 m/s2. The median value of cumulative vibration exposure is Dhv = 121,971 (range: 23-3,374,640) m2/s4·day, corresponding to a daily vibration exposure of ahv(8) = 7 m/s2 for 2489 working days (11.3 years).This study provides a detailed description of hand-arm vibration exposure among workers in the related industries studied. Our analyses indicate that the quantification of daily vibration exposure is often uncertain and should be interpreted with caution. In contrast, cumulative vibration exposure is a more reliable exposure parameter for describing general working conditions and for guiding the prevention and compensation of vibration-related health problems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3e98c6855a4d43c8bc9a401f187a52f9 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2093-7911 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Safety and Health at Work |
| spelling | doaj-art-3e98c6855a4d43c8bc9a401f187a52f92025-08-20T02:56:47ZengElsevierSafety and Health at Work2093-79112025-03-011619710410.1016/j.shaw.2025.01.001Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration StudyYi Sun0Frank Bochmann1Winfried Eckert2Benjamin Ernst3Christian Freitag4Uwe Kaulbars5Uwe Nigmann6Christina Samel7Christian van den Berg8Nastaran Raffler9Unit Exposure Monitoring and Cause-Effect Relationships, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, Germany; Corresponding author. Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Alte Heerstraße 111 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany.Unit Exposure Monitoring and Cause-Effect Relationships, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, GermanyGerman Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Building Trade, Stuttgart, GermanyUnit Vibration, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, GermanyUnit Vibration, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, GermanyEngineer, Office for Human Vibration in Workplaces, Bonn, GermanyGerman Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Woodworking and Metalworking Industries, Dusseldorf, GermanyUnit Exposure Monitoring and Cause-Effect Relationships, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, GermanyGerman Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry, Bochum, GermanyUnit Vibration, Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), Sankt Augustin, GermanyBackground: Standardized exposure assessments were conducted to quantify the historical occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration of workers in the German construction, underground coal mining, woodworking, and metalworking industries. Methods: A two-step approach was used to assess historical vibration exposure. In the first step, individual work histories were reconstructed by standardized personal interviews. The interview focused on the identification of relevant power tools used throughout the working life. In the second step, an equipment-exposure-matrix was constructed by industrial hygiene measurements. By linking the power tools in the work history to the equipment-exposure-matrix, individual daily, and long-term vibration exposures can be quantified. Results and conclusions: A total of 423 power tools were identified for 5,115 exposure segments over a period of 50 years. 97.2% of the vibration values were based on industrial hygiene measurements. The total vibration value (ahv) of the power tools used varied between 0.8 m/s2 and 65.2 m/s2 with a median value of 14.2 m/s2. The median value of cumulative vibration exposure is Dhv = 121,971 (range: 23-3,374,640) m2/s4·day, corresponding to a daily vibration exposure of ahv(8) = 7 m/s2 for 2489 working days (11.3 years).This study provides a detailed description of hand-arm vibration exposure among workers in the related industries studied. Our analyses indicate that the quantification of daily vibration exposure is often uncertain and should be interpreted with caution. In contrast, cumulative vibration exposure is a more reliable exposure parameter for describing general working conditions and for guiding the prevention and compensation of vibration-related health problems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791125000010Exposure assessmentGerman hand-arm vibration studyHand-arm vibration |
| spellingShingle | Yi Sun Frank Bochmann Winfried Eckert Benjamin Ernst Christian Freitag Uwe Kaulbars Uwe Nigmann Christina Samel Christian van den Berg Nastaran Raffler Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study Safety and Health at Work Exposure assessment German hand-arm vibration study Hand-arm vibration |
| title | Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study |
| title_full | Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study |
| title_fullStr | Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study |
| title_short | Quantitative Assessment of Work-related Hand-arm Vibration Exposure Among Workers in the Construction, Underground Coal Mining, Wood Working, and Metal Working Industry: The German Hand-arm Vibration Study |
| title_sort | quantitative assessment of work related hand arm vibration exposure among workers in the construction underground coal mining wood working and metal working industry the german hand arm vibration study |
| topic | Exposure assessment German hand-arm vibration study Hand-arm vibration |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791125000010 |
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