Harvesting System Efficiency in Relation to Directive 2002/44/EC

The Human Vibration Directive 2002/44/EC, officially known as the “Directive 2002/44/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 June 2002 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration)” will soon become obligatory for all EU member states. Its most vital regulations are those establishing the action values (whereby certain protective procedures must be set in place) and the limits values (which must never be breached). For the hand-arm transmitted vibration the vibration directive has the single action value set at 2.5 m/s2, and the limit value of 5 m/s2. The Directive also specifies employers’ obligation to determine and assess risks and sets out the measures to be taken. As it is well known, the factors that govern workers’ daily exposure are the frequency- weighted level of vibration and the exposure duration. During harvesting operation several forestry workers are exposed to vibration. The most serious problem appears in chain-saw operators because of the high level of transmitted vibration and the relative long exposure time. As the harvesting system efficiency is limited by vibration action and limit values, a complex research project was carried out in order to find out the relation between these two factors. The paper presents some results of this research project.