A field survey of Hand-Arm Vibration Exposure in the UK utilities sector

Edwards, D.J. and Rillie, I. and Chileshe, N. and Lai, J. and Hosseini, M. Reza and Thwala, W.D. (2020) A field survey of Hand-Arm Vibration Exposure in the UK utilities sector. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. ISSN 0969-9988

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Abstract

Purpose: Excessive exposure to HAV can lead to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) which is a major health and well-being issue that can irreparably damage to the neurological, vascular and muscular skeletal system. This paper reports upon field research analysis of the hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposure levels of utility workers in the UK construction sector when operating hand held vibrating power tools.

Methodology: An empirical epistemological lens was adopted to analyse primary quantitative data on the management of hand held tool trigger times (seconds) collected from field studies. To augment the analysis further, an interpretivist perspective was undertaken to
qualitatively analyse interviews held with the participating company’s senior management team post field study results. This approach sought to provide further depth and perspective on the emergent numerical findings.

Findings: The findings reveal that none of the operatives were exposed above the exposure limit value (ELV) and that 91.07% resided under the exposure action value (EAV). However the Burr four parameter model probability model (which satisfied the Anderson-Darling, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-squared goodness of fit tests at

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-09-2019-0518
Dates:
DateEvent
25 February 2020Accepted
23 April 2020Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: Health and well-being, hand-arm vibration, probability models, utilities industry, Industry 4.0
Subjects: CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-01 - architecture
CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-02 - building
CAH13 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01 - architecture, building and planning > CAH13-01-04 - planning (urban, rural and regional)
Divisions: Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > School of Engineering and the Built Environment
Depositing User: Euan Scott
Date Deposited: 03 Mar 2020 08:34
Last Modified: 12 Jan 2022 13:31
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8977

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