Proposal of Combined Noise and Hand-Arm Vibration Index for Occupational Exposure: Application to a Study Case in the Olive Sector
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Nieto Álvarez, Raquel; De la Hoz Torres, María Luisa; Aguilar Aguilera, Antonio Jesús; Martínez Aires, María Dolores; Ruiz Padillo, Diego PabloEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Physical agents Noise Vibration HAV Workers Olive sector
Fecha
2022-11-02Referencia bibliográfica
Nieto-Álvarez, R... [et al.]. Proposal of Combined Noise and Hand-Arm Vibration Index for Occupational Exposure: Application to a Study Case in the Olive Sector. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 14345. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114345]
Patrocinador
State Research Agency (SRA) of Spain; European Commission PID2019-108761RB-I00Resumen
In many production and industrial sectors, workers are exposed to noise and hand-arm
vibrations (HAV). European directives have established the maximum limit values or exposure
action values for noise and vibration independently. However, in many cases, workers who endure
hand-arm vibration also receive high noise levels. This research suggests a procedure to aid the
establishment of precautionary measures for workers with simultaneous exposure to both physical
agents. This procedure defines a combined index based on the energy doses for both noise and HAV.
From this combined index, the suggested methodology allows a recommended exposure time for
workers with simultaneous noise and HAV exposure to be calculated. This methodology can be
adapted to tackle the relative importance assigned to both agents according to the safety manager
and new knowledge on combined health effects. To test this method, a measurement campaign under
real working conditions was conducted with workers from the olive fruit-harvesting sector, where
a variety of hand-held machinery is used. The results of the study case show that the suggested
procedure can obtain reliable exposure time recommendations for simultaneous noise and HAV
exposures and is therefore a useful tool for establishing prevention measures.