Tips to Minimize Construction Workers’ Exposure to Vibrations

When you are managing a construction project it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your employees. If your construction crew members are exposed to vibrations while they are working it will have a negative impact on their well-being resulting in an unsafe work environment. You need to take the necessary steps to reduce your worker’s exposure to vibrations so your work site is safe for your employees. 

If you are exposed to strong vibrations momentarily it can be quite uncomfortable, however, if you are consistently exposed to it over a long period of time it can even result in injuries and other health issues. Construction workers are known to develop chronic back and neck pain as well as carpal tunnel syndrome among other things due to excessive exposure to vibrations. Even short term exposure to vibrations can cause fatigue making your workers less productive. If the crew is fatigued the risk of an accident also increases.

There are a lot of commonly used handheld and hand guided construction tools that are used on site that produce strong vibrations. Although there is no way to completely avoid exposure to vibrations there are some things you can do to minimize it. The following are a few tips to help you reduce your crew member’s exposure to vibrations. 

Be Careful When Creating Schedules 

When you are creating schedules you need to make sure that no employees are assigned tasks that involve exposure to vibrations for a long time. If there are some tasks that entail significant exposure then you should schedule frequent worker rotations for them. This way one single person would not be exposed for a long stretch of time to excessive vibrations.

Equipment and Tools 

While it is important to pay attention to the handheld and hand guided tools that produce significant vibrations you should also take heavy machinery into account. When you are operating machinery on rough terrain it is also going to cause whole body vibrations and exposure to that for a long duration can cause fatigue.

Equipment Maintenance 

You need to make sure that all of your equipment and tools are maintained properly and there is no damage or impairment on any of them. If there are any loose parts that can contribute to amplify vibrations make sure to tighten or replace them immediately. Power tools that are no longer in the best shape should be replaced immediately as well. When you are purchasing used cat equipment and tools make sure to opt for high quality machinery with vibration dampening technologies.