A hand-arm vibration meter monitoring the percussion exposure for health risk prevention applications

In the paper a vibration meter estimating the hand-arm exposure of worker using percussion machines is proposed. The device is able to check the safety requirements and the health risk during the machine use. A recurrent exposure to high vibration levels may be cause of pathologies affecting vascular and neurological systems. With the passing of time syndromes to hand-arm bones and muscles may occur. By means of national and international regulations, maximum exposure levels to vibration are fixed so to prevent possible health risks. The projected vibration meter is equipped with three orthogonal transducers sensing the acceleration transmitted to the hand-arm system. A DSP unit processes data so to estimate the daily worker exposure to vibration according to the guidelines of the Standard ISO 5349. A memory device has the task to identify the user and to store data and information about the worker's vibration absorption. An acoustic alarm and a warning message on device display alert the worker when the ISO safety limits are exceeded. In this circumstance the worker has to stop the use of the machine. The projected system represents a tool able to assure the safety conditions during the percussion machines use. It assists the worker in order to avoid absorption of high levels of vibration according to the regulations. Trace on the vibration exposure history of the worker is kept by means of a Web page.