CONSTRUCTION: BEST PRACTICE FOR CONTROL OF TODAY'S NOISE AND HAND-ARM VIBRATION EXPOSURES

Noise and hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposures represent a significant health risk to workers for many activities in the construction industry. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified a need to update HSE information and practical knowledge on the construction industry activities that cause the highest health risks from noise and HAV and the current good practice for control of those risks. In partnership with the Hire Association Europe, the Construction Plant Association, HSE’s Construction Industry Advisory Committee and Build UK, HSE identified six high-risk noise and HAV activities within the construction industry in Great Britain (GB). The six activities are: • Ceiling fixing/drylining • Concrete working/formwork joinery/carpentry • Demolition • First fix joinery/carpentry • Scaffolding • Second fix joinery/carpentry For each activity HSE produced a brief guidance document for the industry (in press at the time of writing). The guidance documents contain details about likely noise levels and HAV magnitudes from the different tasks and tools used for each activity. They also contain guidance on the types of noise and HAV controls that HSE inspectors expect to see. This paper details the scientific work carried out to inform the development of the guidance documents together with a summary of the controls that are considered good practice and the headline noise and HAV exposures with reference to the action and limit values in both the Control of Noise at Work Regulations