Hazards and control measures
Hand-arm vibration hazards and control measures
The vibration hazards from breakers, hammer drills, grinders and disc cutters, the symptoms of hand-arm vibration syndrome, the 2.5 and 5 m/s2 values in the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations, and the control measures HSE expects. With a worked example from a completed RAMS.
What are the hazards of hand-arm vibration?
Regular use of vibrating hand-held tools such as breakers, hammer drills, grinders and disc cutters can cause hand-arm vibration syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome: tingling, numbness, loss of strength in the hands and fingers that turn white in the cold. The damage gets worse with continued exposure and may become permanent. The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 set an exposure action value of 2.5 m/s2 A(8) and a limit of 5 m/s2 A(8), and expect you to find another method or a lower vibration tool before limiting trigger time.
Last updated . Facts checked by the SiteSurvey team on 24 October 2026 against The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, HSE: Hand-arm vibration, advice for employers, HSE: How to protect employees from hand-arm vibration and HSE: Vibration white finger and carpal tunnel syndrome statistics.
Where vibration shows up
Hand-arm vibration is the vibration that passes from a tool, a piece of hand-guided equipment or a workpiece into the hands and arms. The usual sources are concrete breakers, hammer drills, angle grinders, disc cutters, chainsaws, needle scalers and powered mowers. HSE lists construction, roads and railways, utilities, forestry, quarries, foundries and heavy fabrication among the industries most at risk, but a fitter dressing welds or a grounds worker on a hedge cutter is exposed too.
The hazard is regular and frequent use, not the occasional few minutes. HSE says workers are at risk if they use hammer action tools for more than about 15 minutes a day, or some rotary and other action tools for more than about an hour. The regulations measure exposure as a daily value, A(8), which combines how much the tool vibrates with how long the hands are on it. Poor maintenance lets the vibration of a tool rise, which is why HSE expects a maintenance programme for the equipment.
Who is harmed, and how
The early signs are tingling and numbness in the fingers, not being able to feel things properly, loss of strength in the hands, and fingers that go white and then red and painful as they recover, especially in the cold and wet. HSE warns that the symptoms are likely to get worse with continued exposure and may become permanent.
HSE's figures show 220 new cases of hand-arm vibration syndrome assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in 2024, down from 1,210 in 2010. The people most at risk are the operators who do the breaking, drilling and cutting day after day, which is why sharing the work and logging trigger time matter.
What the law expects
The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 start with eliminating the risk at source, and where that is not reasonably practicable, reducing it as low as reasonably practicable. Look first for another method: a breaker mounted on an excavator, a cold pipe cutter instead of a disc, or a design that avoids the cutting. Then choose the lowest vibration tool that does the job, keep it maintained with sharp bits and blades, and limit trigger time with the work shared across the crew. Above the exposure action value of 2.5 m/s2 A(8) there must be a planned programme of these measures, and no one may be exposed above the limit value of 5 m/s2 A(8).
Warm, dry clothing helps the circulation, but HSE says gloves should not be relied on to protect against vibration. Health surveillance is required where there is a risk or exposure is likely to reach the action value, usually a regular symptom questionnaire with referral to occupational health. Our power tool hazards page covers the other risks from the same tools. In SiteSurvey, the RAMS template records each vibrating tool and who uses it, and the Suggested controls list puts a different method first.
Suggested controls
Hand-arm vibration: control measures, most effective first
These are the 5 controls the SiteSurvey RAMS and risk assessment forms offer for this hazard as a tick list, grouped by their level in the hierarchy of controls. They are a starting point from HSE guidance, not an assessment of your job: tick what applies and say how it works on your site. If only personal protective equipment is ticked, the form says so. How suggested controls work and the hierarchy of controls explained.
Take the hazard away altogether, usually by doing the job a different way or from a different place.
- Breaking, cutting or grinding done by machine or avoided by a different method
Swap the hazard for something less harmful: a quieter tool, a cold-applied method, a smaller pack.
- Low vibration tools, maintained and with sharp bits or blades
Change the way the work is done: a permit, a check, training, supervision, timing.
- Trigger times limited and the work shared across the crew
- Hands kept warm and dry, with breaks built in
- Symptoms reported and health surveillance in place where exposure is regular
Offered to: Construction and building work, Electrical and M&E, Roofing, scaffolding and work at height, Grounds, landscaping and tree work.
Try it
Build the controls for hand-arm vibration
Tick the controls you would put in place, see which levels of the hierarchy they reach, and score the risk before and after. Or fill in the example from a completed RAMS to see how one crew did it.
Interactive
Try it: hand-arm vibration
Works the same way as the RAMS form. Nothing you tick is saved or sent anywhere.
Your controls, by level
- Eliminatenot ticked
- Substitutenot ticked
- Engineeringno control at this level for this hazard
- Adminnot ticked
- PPEno control at this level for this hazard
Nothing ticked yet.
3. Score the risk with these controls
What the law says
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005
- Assess the vibration, eliminate or reduce it at source, act at the 2.5 m/s2 A(8) action value, never exceed the 5 m/s2 A(8) limit, and provide health surveillance where there is a risk.
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3
- The suitable and sufficient risk assessment that identifies the vibrating tools, who uses them and the controls.
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- Tools are suitable for the job and maintained in good order, which keeps vibration from rising as they wear.
Worked example
Hand-arm vibration in a completed RAMS
The hazard entry exactly as it was recorded in one of our completed example RAMS: the controls ticked from the list, how they apply on that job, and the score before and after the further action.
Construction and building work
22 Wonford Mead, Exeter: extension foundations and drainage
- Hazard
- Hand-arm vibration: Hand-held breaker on the patio edge along the house wall; disc cutter on slabs and the chamber risers
- What could happen, and to whom
- Hand-arm vibration syndrome from the hand-held breaker and the disc cutter. About 2 m of patio edge against the house wall cannot be reached with the excavator breaker. The crew.
- Controls ticked
- Breaking, cutting or grinding done by machine or avoided by a different method
- Low vibration tools, maintained and with sharp bits or blades
- Trigger times limited and the work shared across the crew
- Hands kept warm and dry, with breaks built in
- How they apply on this job
- The bulk of the patio is broken out with the excavator-mounted breaker, which carries no hand-arm vibration. The hand-held breaker is a low vibration model hired for the week with a new point, and its use is limited to 20 minutes trigger time per person per day, shared between A. Dunne and P. Szabo and recorded on the HAV sheet in the van. The disc cutter is used only for the chamber risers and a few slab cuts, with a sharp diamond blade. Gloves, warm hands and a break every 20 minutes of trigger time. L. Hooper does not use either tool.
- Risk with these controls (likelihood x severity)
- 3 x 3 = 9 (Medium)
- Further action
- HAV sheet filled in on Tuesday and checked by K. Trevithick at the end of the day. Anyone reporting tingling or white fingers stops and tells K. Trevithick. Owner: K. Trevithick.
- Residual risk
- 1 x 3 = 3 (Low)
A fictional job, filled in as a worked example. The form and the report are real.
It also appears in dismantling a storm-damaged ash near an 11 kv line and welding heating pipework in a hospital plant room. All eleven completed RAMS.
Hand-arm vibration: common questions
Do anti-vibration gloves protect against hand-arm vibration?
No. HSE says gloves should not be relied on to protect against vibration. They are still worth wearing to keep the hands warm and dry, which helps the circulation. The protection comes from a different method, a lower vibration tool and less trigger time.
Do we have to measure every tool?
No. HSE does not expect routine continual monitoring or logging of exposure, but it does expect a survey of who is exposed and which tools cause it. HSE's hand-arm vibration exposure calculator helps turn tool vibration and trigger time into a daily figure. Recording trigger time on a HAV sheet, as the worked example on this page does, is a simple way to keep each person under the limit.
What does health surveillance for vibration involve?
It is usually a regular questionnaire asking about early symptoms such as tingling, numbness and white fingers, with anyone who answers yes referred to an occupational health provider. It is required where the risk assessment shows a risk or exposure is likely to reach the action value. If a link to the work is found, the employer must review the controls and consider other work for that person.
Does a hired tool count as low vibration?
Only if it is. Ask the hire company for the tool's vibration value and choose the lowest one that does the job, and check it arrives with sharp bits or blades and its anti-vibration mounts in good order. Poor maintenance lets vibration rise, so a blunt point is a reason to send it back. The plant hire checklist is a good place to record that check.
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