Compact and unobtrusive instrument helps reduce the risk of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome for employees using vibrating tools on a long term basis
A recent *court case has highlighted that employers within the construction industry could face prosecution and costly fines under Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 if they do not take adequate measures to protect employees using vibrating tools on a long term basis. The SV103 from Svantek (tel: 01296 682040; www.svantek.co.uk) is the world’s first personal hand arm vibration exposure meter designed to help businesses assess workers levels of exposure to vibration and reduce the risk of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome, commonly known as White Finger Disease.
Setting a new benchmark in hand arm vibration exposure monitoring, the compact and rugged SV103 easily attaches to the operator’s arm whilst the lightweight MEMs accelerometer straps to the hand making it the only device to accurately measure the vibration dose being received.
Svantek’s new SV103 incorporates an additional contact force transducer that measures whether the tool is being gripped correctly. The lightweight, easy to use instrument meets ISO8041:2005 and is suitable for taking measurements in accordance with ISO5349 and European Directive 2002/44/EC.
Many currently used assessment methods for hand-arm vibration are subject to a very high level of uncertainty. Typically vibration measurement accuracy can vary in the range of ± 20% to 40% which makes a big difference in relation to the risk of operators developing *white finger disease.
As a result, Svantek’s new SV103 is a real game changer. It significantly reduces measurement uncertainty as it is strapped to the operator’s arm and is small enough to take daily vibration exposure measurements without interfering with normal working activities.
Svantek’s SV103 offers 1/1 or 1/3 octave real-time analysis and is powered using rechargeable batteries or through the USB 2.0 interface which enables easy interconnection between the instrument and a PC. The measurement data is safely stored in the large 8GB memory.
It operates in conjunction with Svantek’s powerful ‘Supervisor’ software which allows instrument configuration as well as the viewing and exporting of measurement data and daily vibration exposure recalculations.
Additional features include colour OLED screen which displays information in both text and graphical form and offers excellent visibility even in full daylight. The triaxial MEMS accelerometer offers many advantages including shock resistance, very low power and frequency response down to DC.
