Vibration information and the 'new' Machines Directive
August 18th 2008

On the 29th December 2009 the law changes for all machinery but in particular for hand-held powered tools.The change is in the way in which suppliers of hand-held powered tools have to give vibration information.Gone will be the single axis laboratory derived information and in will come the need to present "the vibration total value to which the hand-arm system is subjected" which translates to 3-axis measurement of vibration writes Greg Bordiak, technical officer – BCAS

The standards, the ISO 8662 series, which have been the subject of criticism since the introduction of the Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive that addresses the user and demands information on vibration related to real work activities, are now being revised. The ISO 8662 series having been drawn up to meet the needs of the original Machines Directive provided comparative vibration information based on single axis measurements and did not relate to real work activities. The revised standards will now harmonise the need to meet the demands of both directives.

Manufacturers and standards makers have been working for the past 3 years to produce standards that will allow the provision of 'real world' vibration figures in a standardised test. To ensure that there is no misunderstanding about the revised figures being presented and data already in the marketplace, a positive move was taken to change the identity of the revised ISO 8662 series to a new number. This will then provide a readily and immediately recognisable identification that 3-axis information is being given. The new standard series is EN ISO 28927 "Hand-held portable power tools — Test method for evaluation of vibration emission" which has 10 parts to cover all tool types.

The information on vibration derived from these standards will then be able to be used directly with confidence to assess the vibration exposure of workers where this is identified in the Control of Vibration (handarm) at Work Regulations which is the UK incarnation of the EU directive.

More information on the EU directive, UK legal provision and the standards programme can be obtained from the BCAS by contacting Greg Bordiak on greg@bcas.org.uk

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