{"id":3047,"date":"2024-02-20T12:27:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T11:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/?p=3047"},"modified":"2024-02-20T12:47:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T11:47:44","slug":"vibration-from-handheld-power-tools-can-be-reduced-by-75-percent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/2024\/02\/20\/vibration-from-handheld-power-tools-can-be-reduced-by-75-percent\/","title":{"rendered":"Vibration from handheld power tools can be reduced by 75 percent"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Working with vibrating power tools can lead to reduced hand function. Now, researchers at STAMI have contributed to the development of power tools that vibrate less.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\t

\n\t\t\"Two\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThey work with drilling and blasting. But it isn't serious accidents that affect the health of most construction workers. (Illustration photo: Mesta)\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

Approximately 60,000 workers in the Norwegian construction industry report being exposed to vibrations from handheld power tools for a quarter of the workday or more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong and prolonged vibrations can cause injuries known as Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an occupational disease, and the injuries occur because the vibrations propagate to the nerves and blood vessels in the fingers. In some cases, they also affect the joints and muscles in the hands and arms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risk of reduced functionality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 When you get injured from working with vibrating power tools, it leads to various problems, such as reduced function, pain, cold hands, white fingers, and cold intolerance. This affects a person\u2019s ability to work, but also their everyday life. Simple tasks that require finger dexterity, like buttoning up a jacket, may become difficult, says STAMI-researcher Thomas Clemm. He has recently completed a PhD-degree on vibration exposure and neurological symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together with colleagues at STAMI, Clemm has carried out a research project that has examined new technological solutions to reduce hand-arm vibrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the project, they selected handheld power tools known to contribute to the risk of vibration injuries in the construction industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modified rock drills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In collaboration with the IA industry program for construction and engineering, the contractor MESTA AS, and others, the researchers have investigated the effects of modifying such power tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They worked with rock drills used to insert bolts in the rock face to prevent rocks and boulders from falling onto roads. They selected two types of rock drills and installed ATVA technology. This is a mechanical device that dampens vibrations by creating counter motion with the same frequency as the vibration it is designed to dampen. They also installed spring-damping mechanisms on the handles of the rock drills. These spring dampening mechanisms could easily be retrofitted on ordinary rock drills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the researchers tested the tools before and after the modifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significant reductions are possible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The project shows that it is possible to reduce vibrations from the relevant power tools, in some cases by more than 75 percent of the original vibration level. This will contribute to a lower risk of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome among workers, says Clemm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasizes that an important part of the project is to inform decision-makers about the possibilities offered by technical improvements to reduce the risk of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 It is possible to incorporate measures both while constructing machines and through retrofitting damping technology. The knowledge from this project can also be transferred to other handheld and hand-operated machines, says the researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another advantage of reducing vibrations is that one can use the equipment for a longer time before reaching the intervention value than with power tools without vibration-damping technology. The intervention value is set at 2.5 m\/s\u00b2 for an eight-hour day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Approximately 60,000 workers in the Norwegian construction industry report being exposed to vibrations from handheld […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"show_date_option_selector":"publication_date","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"course-type":[],"class_list":["post-3047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pain-musculoskeletal-disorders"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3047\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3047"},{"taxonomy":"course-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stami.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/course-type?post=3047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}