HealthandSafety Executive Control back-pain risks …

1 Intr odu ctionWh o sho uld rea d this lea fle t?You sh oul d read thi s leafl et if you em plo y op eratorsof off-roadmob ile machinery,agr icu ltu ral ve hic les or ind ust rial tru may al so find it helpful if: you emp loy dr iversof ot her vehi cl es, particularlyif th ey su ffer fromback pai n; you are a dr iver or operator of a mob ile machine or veh icle; you are a tr ade uni on safetyrepresentative or an employeerep resentativefordr ive rs or op erators .Thi s leafl et will he lp you man ag e the ris k of back pain in you r employeesand willtell you wh at you needto do to com ply withth e Co ntro l of Vib rationat WorkRe gul atio ns HS E leaf let IND G1 75( rev2)fo r gu id an ce on exp osu re to han E s pr ice d book on whol e- bod y vi brationwill giveyou morein formationon allthe topi cs in thi s leaflet.

2 (D ue to be publish ed in late 20 05, ISBN0 71 76 612 6 1.)Al so see HSE s vi brat io n web pag es: e healtheff ectsof who le-body vibrationWh at can cau se or ag gr ava te backpain in mobilemachin e operatorsanddri vers?Overfi ve mil lio n worki ng daysare los t eachyeardue to back paincau sed or madewor se by wor k. Back pai n can be caused by man y workan d no n-workact leadto tim e off work, los s of produ ctivityan d compensationclaims. Mo bilemac hin e op er ator s and drivers(esp eciallytho se wh o wo rk off-road) are atinc reas ed risk fr om backpai e are thi ngs th at yo u can do to help you r emp lo yeesavoidth e pro blem, butyou cann ot prevental l backpain , so earlyrep ortin g of sym ptoms,prop er treatmentand su itab le reha bil itati on is es sen ti alth and SafetyExecut iveControlback-painrisksfromwhole-bodyvi brationAdvicefor employerson the Co nt ro l of Vib rati on at WorkReg ul atio ns 2005 Health and Safety ExecutiveControlback-pain risks fromwhole-body vibration Advice for employers on the Control of Vibration at WorkRegulations 20051 of 9 pag esThis is a web -fr ie nd lyversio n of leafletIN DG242(r ev 1)

3 , revised 06/05 Reasons for bac k pai n in driverscan in clu de: poo r des ign of co ntro ls , mak ing it di fficu lt for th e driverto operatethe ma ch in eor veh icl e eas il y or to see pro perl y wit hou t twistingor st retching; in cor rect adj us tm ent by the driverof th e seatpos itio n an d han d an d foo tcon trol s, so that it is necessary to cont inually twist,bend , leanan d stretchtoope ra te th e machi ne; si ttin g fo r lon g perio ds witho ut bei ng ableto change position; poo r dr iver pos ture; rep eatedmanualhan dli ng and lift in g of loadsby the driver; exc ess ive expo sureto wh ol e- body vib ration, part icu larly to shocksand jol ts; rep eatedly clim bi ng int o or jum pi ng downfroma high cab or on e wh ich isdi ffi cul t to get in and out ri sk incr eases wherethe dri ver or operator is exp osedto two or moreof thesefactors tog ethe s leafl et main ly dealswit h whol e- bod y vib ration, but alsotells you wh at you cando abou t oth er causes of back pai n in machin e op eratorsand at is whol e-bo dy vi bra ti on?

4 Wh ole- bo dy vi br ati on is shaki ng or jo lt in g of th e hu manbod y th rou gh a su ppo rtin gsur fa ce (usu al ly a seator the flo or) , for example whendrivin g or ridin g on a vehiclealon g an un ma de road,operating earth-moving machin es or stan din g on astr uc ture atta ch ed to a larg e, powerful, fix ed machine whichis impacting orvibr at ing .Whois at risk?Wh en is expo sur e to who le -bodyvi br ation li kely to lea d to backpai n?Mos t ex pos ure to who le- bo dy vi brati on at wo rk is unlikelyon its ow n to causebackpai n. It ma y po se a ris k when thereis un usuallyhigh vi brationor joltin g or thevibr at ion is un comfort abl e fo r a lon g timeon mostworking such sit uati ons,the ri sk from vib rat ion is relat ed to the overalltimeth e op eratoror driveris exp osedto th e vi br ati on and the num ber of shocksan d joltstheyexperience eachday.

5 In som e ca ses who le- bo dy vi brat io n can agg ravatea back problemcau sed byanot her ac tivi ty, eg a mus cle st rai n caused by an accident when liftinga heavyobj ect or dur ing physi cal acti vi ty suchas spo o is likel y to have hig h exposures to whole-bodyvibration?Am ong tho se mos t likely to experien ce high vib rationexp osu res are reg ularoper at or s an d driversof off- roadmach inerysuch as: con str uc tion , mi ni ng and quarrying machinesand veh icles , particularly earth-mo vingma chi nes suchas scrapers, bu lldozersand build in g sit e du mpers; tr acto rs an d other agri cult ural an d forestrymachinery,particularlywh en usedintr ans por ta tion , tedding (t ur ninghay),primarycultivationan d mo of 9 pag esCo nt ro l ba ck- painrisksfrom who le-bodyvibrationHe alth and SafetyExecutiv eAre road tr ansport ve hic le dr iv ers at risk fromwhole-bodyvibration?

6 The ri sk for roadtran spo rt driversfro m vi brationexp osu re is likelyto be low unl essthe vehi clesdo not haveeffective su sp ens io n (eg sometypesof smallerrigid-bodylor ries or fl at- bed tru cks)or are dri ven overpoor su rfacesor off-road. But th eremay be other caus es of backpainfor ro ad transport drivers,wh ich sho uldprobabl y be con si deredfi rst , suc h as po or postu re, longperiods in th e samepos iti on and repe atedli fti ng and o else mi gh t exper ien ce hi gh exposures to whole-bodyvibration?Hig h ex pos ure s co ul d occurwhereveh iclesdesigned for smooth surfacesaredr ivenon poo r sur faces, eg when lift tru cks with no wheelsu sp ens io n or with solidtyresare us ed on a crackedor un evenyard.

7 Pooroperating or drivingtechniquewit h most off -ro ad machi nes or veh icl es (eg drivingtoo fas t) can alsoleadto higherexp osu res whi ch can be reducedby gooddrivertrain in g an d in stru ction. Hig hexp osu res als o occurin smal l, fast boat e an y em plo yees at pa rt ic ular risk?Old er pe opl e, tho se wit h previous back or neck prob lems,yo un g peop le andpreg nan t wo menare mo re likel y to be at risk of back pain an d maybe at hig herri sk from exp osu re to who le- bodyvi al dutiesWh at do th e Re gul at io ns requi re empl oye rs to do?The Con trol of Vib rati on at WorkReg ulations req uire yo u to con trol th e risksfromwho le- bod y vib rati on.

8 Thi s shou ld be basedon an assessmentof th e risk andexp osu re. In most casesit is si mp ler to makea broadass essment of th e ris k ratherthantr y to ass ess exp osu re in de tai l, co ncentrating you r mainef fort on in troducingcont rols .The requ ire men ts of the Reg ulat ions are th at you mu st: ass ess th e vib rati on ris k to you r em ployees; dec ide if theyare likel y to be ex pos ed ab ove the daily exp osu re actionvalue(E AV ) an d if th ey are:- intro duc e a programme of con trol s to eliminate or red uce th eir dailyexposureso far as is reas onably practi cab le; dec ide if theyare likel y to be ex pos ed ab ove the daily exp osu re li mit valu e (ELV)and if the y are:- ta ke im medi ate act io n to red uce theirex pos ure belowthe limit value; pro videin for mat io n an d train in g on healthrisksan d cont rols to emp loyeesatrisk.

9 Con sul t you r tradeuni on safety representative or employeerepresentativeabo ut the risks and whatyou plan to do; keepa re cordof yourris k assessm ent and con trol actions; revi ew and update yo ur ri sk ass essmentregu of 9 pag esCo nt ro l ba ck- painrisksfrom who le-bodyvibrationHe alth and SafetyExecutiv eWhat is the exposure ac ti on va lu e (EAV)?The exp osu re ac tio n val ue is th e am ou nt of daily exp osu re to whole-body vi brationabovewh ich you are requ ired to take actionto red uce is set at a dai lyexp osu re of 0. 5 m/s2A( 8) .Wh ole- bo dy vi br ati on ri sks are low fo r exp osu res arou nd th e actionvalu e an d onl ysim pl e co ntro l measures are usu al ly necessaryin th ese at is the exposure li mi t value(E LV)?

10 The exp osu re lim it valu e is the max imu m amount of vibrationan employeemay beexp osedto on any sin gl e day . It is set at a daily exp osu re of s2A(8) .Ope ra tor s of so me off- roadmachi nes and veh icles(see Wh o is at risk? ) mayexceed the lim it valu e but this wil l dep en d on the task,vehiclesp eed , groundconditi ons , dr ive r ski ll an d du rati on of the Re gul atio ns al low a transit ional periodfor the limit valu e un til Ju ly 2010(or until2014for th e agr icul turaland fore stry sect ors).Th is on ly ap pliesto machines orvehi clesfi rs t supp li ed to employe es beforeJu ly ex pos ure limit val ue maybe exceeded du ri ng th e tran si ti onalperi ods as lon g as yo u have compli ed with allthe othe r requ ir ements of the Regu lat io ns and takenall reasonablypracticableacti ons to redu ce ex pos ure as much as you the risksHo w do I get st ar te d?