Vibration Regulations made

The first specific statutory requirements on the prevention of harmful health effects of vibrating tools and equipment were laid before parliament before its dissolution in April.

The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005¹, transposing the Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive 2002/44/EC, will come into force in July but, as far as duties to control exposure to within certain specific limit values are concerned, they will be phased in over the next decade.

The Regulations apply to both hand-arm and whole-body vibration and include duties relating to: (a) compliance with action values and limit values for daily exposure to vibration; (b) risk assessment; (c) elimination or, where elimination is not reasonably practicable, reduction of exposure to vibration to as low a level as is reasonably practicable; (d) a programme of measures to be taken at the action values to reduce exposure to vibration to as low a level as is reasonably practicable; (e) actions to be taken at the limit values and prohibition on exceeding the limit values; (f) weekly averaging of exposure to vibration in specified circumstances; (g) health surveillance; and (h) information, instruction and training.

Four new action/limit values are established, based on eight-hour working days; two for hand-arm vibration (HAV) and two for whole-body vibration (WBV). The duties relating to compliance with the limit values will be effective on 6 July 2007 for new equipment. Equipment already in use will not be covered until 6 July 2010. An exemption applies for WBV in agriculture and forestry, where equipment used before 6 July 2007 will be covered from 6 July 2014.

Wherever there is a risk of an exposure action value being exceeded, or where there is a risk to health resulting from exposure to vibration, employers will be required to carry out health surveillance, to maintain health records and to provide individual employees with access to their personal health records.

Health surveillance is intended "to prevent or diagnose any health effect linked with exposure to vibration" and other duties follow if any adverse health effect is revealed by health surveillance: to ensure that affected individuals are informed, to review the risk assessment and preventive measures and to consider the transfer of affected individuals to alternative work.

1. SI 1093/2005, www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051093.htm.