Vibration can cause both discomfort and permanent damage. Vibration can be classified as:
Temporal vibration, or repetitive motion (caused, for example, by rotation)
Random vibration (caused, for example, by traveling on uneven surfaces)
Shock vibration (caused by a hammer blow, for example)
Vibration is divided into Hand-and-Arm Vibration (HAV) and Whole-Body-Vibration (WBV). Causes and consequences vary depending on which is the case. In most cases, vibration and its effects are undesirable.
The effects and consequences depend on amplitude, frequency and time. If the displacement is major, the movement is rapid and the vibration lasts long, the effects and consequences will be greater.
There is reason to be alert for symptoms such as:
Numbness in fingers
Loss of feeling in fingers and hands
Loss of strength or weakness in hands
The fingers whiten due to vibration, but when at rest they blush with a feeling of pain.
Difficulty with fine motor skills
Discomfort and pain due to cold and humidity
Impaired grip strength
These symptoms are more likely to occur in cold and humidity and at first probably only at the front of the fingers.
There is reason to be alert for symptoms such as:
Visual disturbances
Equilibria disturbances
Discomfort related to the musculoskeletal system
Pain, stress, sleep disturbances
Damage to internal organs
If working continuously in vibration, the effect can be permanent.
To fight against vibrations, a variety of solutions can be applied. These include:
Changed working methods, where employees are less exposed to mechanical vibration
Appropriate choice of work equipment, which is ergonomically designed and produces the least possible vibration with respect to the work to be performed,
Accessories that reduce the risk, such as seats that significantly reduce vibration throughout the body and handles that reduce the transmission of vibration to the hands and arms,
Appropriate maintenance plans for work equipment, workplace. Choice of driving routes and surface
Information and training to teach workers to use work equipment correctly and safely and to keep mechanical vibration to a minimum, as well as to examine sitting position and body posture and adjustments of seats and even controls.
Reasonable working hours with appropriate rest periods, limiting the time that employees experience vibration and reducing vibration
Protective clothing, among other things, to protect against vibration and cold and humidity
Whether the harmful effects of vibration throughout the body could remain outside working hours is the responsibility of the employer
Special working conditions, such as low temperatures
