Scholarly record
HAND-ARM VIBRATIONS INDUCED BY THE USE OF RADIAL ARM POLISHER MACHINES
Abstract
Background: the exposure to high levels of vibrations could induce health problems resulting in the damage of joints, muscles, other than pathologies connected to the circulation and the sensory nerves. These phenomena are often related to the use of machines that require high efforts, repetitive movements, or not ergonomic postures. Methods: 13 Radial Arm Polisher Machines (RAPM) of different manufacturers and different ages were investigated in order to analyze the vibrations produced during a whole process of marble polishing. For each machine, 4 sets of different types of abrasives were used to complete the process. A total of 52 hand-arm vibrations measures were made according to the ISO 5349-2001 using a triaxial accelerometer fixed on the handle. Other measurements regarding the effort applied, the number of technical actions and the time required to complete each process of polishing were also made. Results: In 6 of the 13 RAPM examined, the overall vibration ahv was found to exceed the action limit (EAV) of 2.5 m/s2, among those, 3 were over the exposure limit (ELV) of 5 m/s2, independently by the age of the machines (ranging from the sixties to the mid-2000s). For the machines producing the highest vibrations, the EAV value is reached in a range of 26 - 190 minutes of usage per day. No correlation between the different roughness of the abrasives and the increment/decrement of the vibrations was found. Most of the cases resulting in the higher levels of vibrations were related both to the lack of maintenance of the machines and to the not uniform consumption of the tools used for polishing. A difference of vibrations ranging from a minimum of 0.32 to a maximum of 5.60 m/s2 was found in the use of different abrasives for the same RAPM. In one case the vertical transmission shaft of the RAPM, not perfectly straight, was the main cause of the high level of vibration produced. Some ergonomic and productivity considerations were also made: an average of 24 (SD=6.7) movements of pushing/pulling per minute, an initial and sustained force of 85 N (SD=18.6) and 38 N (SD=14.8) respectively, and an averaging time of 1193 s (SD=693) for polishing 1 m2 of marble. Conclusions: The results show that good maintenance of both the machines and the tools used for polishing the marble can highly contribute to the reduction of vibrations. Due to the high variability of the movements among different workers, depending also on the dimensions of the slabs, further investigations are required in order to asses possible ergonomics problems.
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References11
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