Hand arm vibration, grip strength assessment and the prevalence of health disorders among stone crushing workers

This research was conducted to analyze the hand-arm vibration exposure levels in the workplace and the effects of vibrations on the health of stone crushing workers. The results suggested that the levels of vibration for rock drilling operators measured through two different types of systems were exceeding the Threshold Limit Values. Therefore a higher percentage of workers may be affected with hand-arm vibration syndrome. In addition the Hand Activity Level score was calculated with the support of a physician in order to analyze the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders. Prolonged exposures to hand-arm vibration may also lead to loss of grip strength and proper functioning of hand. A digital hand dynamometer was used to calculate the grip strength of the workers using powered drill machine. A significant decrease of 5.86 kg of force in average grip strength of the workers was found before and after 1 h of drilling.