Edwards, D J and Holt, G D (2010) Cost-effective risk assessment of hand-arm vibration exposure. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction, 15(2), pp. 158-175. ISSN 1366-4387
Abstract
Purpose – As a tool to help compliance with relevant health and safety legislation, a cost-effective method of risk assessing construction workers' exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) is presented that allows larger numbers of workers to be evaluated, either as a stratified sample of a population or as a population where numbers are not prohibitive. Design/methodology/approach – The method, developed and tested in the field with a national UK contractor, employs work study to collect exposure level data of workers undertaking real work and analyse these, to inform HAV management and risk control decisions. Findings – The method benefits from economies of scale to efficiently risk assess large numbers of workers, without the need for specialist equipment or analysis software. It can be applied to sample strata defined by, for example, equipment used, types of work or classifications of worker. Research limitations/implications – Results add to the growing body of academic knowledge relating to construction worker HAV exposure and its management. Practical implications – The method can easily be moulded to suit any type of construction organisation and help control cost associated with HAV legislation compliance. Social implications Potential benefits of controlled HAV exposure include reduced incidence of (HAV induced) medical conditions and concomitant personal financial gains to society. Originality/value – The method and context are novel. The methodology of work study and sampling in a broader sense are well established.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cost effectiveness; hand tools; health and safety; risk management; vibration |
| Index terms: | construction organization, construction worker, work study, risk management, sampling, risk assessment, society, health and safety, cost-effectivenes, legislation, compliance, hand tool, vibration, exposure, population, methodology |
| Subjects: | manufacturing engineering, management, economics, public and environmental health, research methods, health safety and environment, financial risk, demography, communities and social development, risk assessment, data collection methods, organization, mechanical systems, practitioner, legal systems |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Legal Issues, Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here