1.

The Regulations aim to protect workers from risks to their health resulting

from exposure to vibration transmitted to the hand-arm (HAV) and whole body

They transpose into British legislation European Directive 2002/44/EC.

The objective of the Directive is to ensure the health and safety of individual workers

and to provide a minimum level of protection to workers across the European Union

in order to avoid possible distortions of competition.

2.

The Regulations will place a range of duties on employers including a

requirement to assess the risks to their employees from vibration, to reduce their

exposure to vibration and to provide them with information and training on the

hazard.  A wide range of industries and occupations are affected, in particular

agriculture, construction, mines and quarries, engineering, forestry, public utilities

and shipbuilding, aircraft and vehicle manufacture and repair.

3.

Currently there are no British health and safety regulations that deal

specifically with the risks from vibration. However, general health and safety

legislation exists which covers this and other forms of health risk.

4 This Regulatory Impact Assessment looks at the requirements for HAV and WBV

in separate chapters because the two hazards are quite different in the work

processes and industries where they are found, the health effects they produce and

the ways they can be controlled. The HAV chapter begins on page 2 and the WBV

chapter on page16. An overall summary with recommendations is provided at page

31.

5.

The Health and Safety Commission published two consultative documents on

17 November 2003 on the proposed vibration regulations, relating to hand-arm

vibration and whole-body vibration respectively. The consultation period ended 31

March 2004.

6.

One of the main areas of concern raised by consultees was the potential for

employers to conclude that they needed to undertake complicated vibration

measurements, or to engage consultants to do this for them. Other concerns were

that relevant published vibration data would be difficult to find and that risk

assessments would take longer to do than HSE guidance suggested. Many wanted

HSE to produce simple and practical guidance on the regulations and how to comply

with them. There was also a demand for the guidance to employers to avoid any

technical material, jargon or mathematical formulae.