Bad vibrations get red light

摘要

With some 300,000 construction workers suffering from hand-arm vibration problems, tool manufacturers are doing their best to reduce vibration levels. Malrita, for instance, is now incorporating counterweight antivibration technology in its rotary hammer drills like its HR4511C demolition hammer. This 9 kg tool uses the air movement caused by the piston striking the steel chisel to push a counterweight in the opposite direction - reducing vibration to 7 m/sq sec in full hammer mode. Reactec's HAVmeter takes this a step further by measuring and recording an individual worker's vibration exposure. Each tool is fitted with a magnetic and colour- coded tool tag containing a radio frequency identification transponder programmed with the tool's vibration level. When workers mount their HAVmeter (drawn from the base station using a swipe card) to the tool tag it measures 'trigger time' and calculates,displays and records the vibration dose received.