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Vibration

Those two directives deal more specifically with Health and Safety in the working environment.

Directive 2002/44/EC of the European Parliament and of 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) (sixteenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)  : the vibration directive has single action values set at 2.5 m/s2 for hand-arm vibration and 0.5 m/s2 for whole-body vibration with a hand-arm limit value of 5 m/s2 and a whole-body limit value of 1.15 m/s2 (equivalent continuous acceleration values). Measurements are made according to the latest ISO standards.

Directive 2003/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 February 2003 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise) (Seventeenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) : the exposure limit value is fixed at 87 decibels (taking into account the attenuation provided by the individual hearing protectors worn by the workers) and the exposure action values are fixed at 80 decibels (lower value) and 85 decibels (upper value). If the risks arising from exposure to noise cannot be prevented by other means, properly fitting individual hearing protectors must be made available to workers. Under no circumstances may the exposure of the worker exceed the exposure limit values. The employer must ensure that workers exposed to noise at work at or above the lower exposure action values, and/or their representatives, receive information and training relating to risks resulting from exposure to noise. Consultation and participation of workers and/or of their representatives must take place on the matters covered by this Directive. Member States must establish arrangements to ensure that individual health records are made and kept up to date for these workers. These records may be consulted at a later date and are accessible to the workers concerned.

 

Directive Code	Directive Name	Directive Date	Date of Enforcement
2002/44/EC	the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration)	25-Jun-02	2007-2010-2014
2003/10/EC	minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (noise)	15.02.2003	General : 15.02.2006 For the music and entertainment sector: 15.02.2008 For personnel on board seagoing vessels: 15.02.2011