Andrea Antonucci

The purpose of this paper is to compare the levels of whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure to which operators are subjected when using conventional heavy equipment with internal combustion engines to hybrid heavy machines, which demonstrate potential advantages in terms of efficiency and sustainability. The study was carried out in a quarry using an experimental approach that analyzed conventional and hybrid heavy equipment during the same working phases in mining activities. The methodology involved direct vibration samples using triaxial accelerometers positioned uniformly on the operator’s driving stations. The vibrations were analyzed in accordance with ISO 2631-1, focusing on intensity and frequency distribution. To minimize the influence of interference factors and ensure a straightforward comparison of the results, the entire measurement campaign was conducted under the same conditions, including vehicle and operator characteristics. Hybrid machines provide notable sustainability benefits, but the results show they produce higher vibration levels compared to conventional ones. This underscores the need to improve vibration control in hybrid machinery to ensure operator comfort and health while supporting their sustainability advantages.

The ISO Standard 10819:2013 defines the method for evaluating the performances of antivibration (AV) gloves, but when used in real fields, the protection can be dissimilar to that labeled. This paper investigates the transmissibility, at the palm level, of three different types of AV gloves (air, gel, neoprene) and an ordinary leather glove, during the use of four similar electric hammers (average weight of 10 kg, and average impact energy of 18 J), in a limestone quarry plant. As the average triaxial transmissibility for all the hammers, results show very limited benefits in reducing the vibration (6%), with no significative differences among the different gloves. The working leather glove, instead, shows a transmissibility quite equal to the unit. Anyway, results can be different for the same glove when used among the different hammers, providing in some cases 19% of protection. Some differences can be found regarding the transmissibility through the three main axes for the same type of glove: the glove in gel seems to perform better in shear than in compression. The transmissibility in compression is around 20% higher than that provided by the manufacturers of the certified gloves. The usage of specific excitation curves during laboratory tests could help in providing a more accurate estimation of the transmissibility of the gloves when used with a specific tool.

This article takes into account some of the most relevant studies investigating the transmissibility of anti-vibration (AV) gloves. AV gloves are almost useless at the palm level in the low frequencies (<31.5 Hz), while they generally start to have an appreciable reduction of the vibration over 400 Hz. In their use with impact tools, having a low dominant vibration frequency usually between 25 and 60 Hz for chipping hammers and drills, and less than 30 Hz for pneumatic breakers, the average transmissibility reduction at the palm level is 13% (minimum 2%; maximum 26%) when used with hammers, and 1% (increment of 4% and reduction of 6%) when used with breakers. The transmissibility at the finger level, especially in the low frequencies, is almost nothing or produces an increase of the vibration. Other problems related to the increase of the applied force and the reduction of dexterity are reported.

Welcome to the WIT Press eLibrary - the home of the Transactions of the Wessex Institute collection, providing on-line access to papers presented at the Institute's prestigious international conferences and from its State-of-the-Art in Science & Engineering publications.

The aim of the chapter is to examine thoroughly the aspects connected with risk management in complex organisations; it starts with the consideration of theoretical models of accident’s analysis in which the accident is attributable not so much to a single worker’s malpractice, but rather to deficiencies in the whole organisational structure for the development and control of processes, and concludes with the concept of the ‘resilient system’, i.e. dynamic organisations in which the very idea of safety and its applications in the objective context evolve and adapt to the changes in situation by learning from their mistakes. With this in mind, the chapter aims to emphasize that actions, practices, procedures and controls, as well as human relationships, communication, managerial and organisational policies, incentives, disincentives and reward and penalization system, are all determining factors in the reduction of risk and should consequently all be taken into account in the logical process of continuous improvement which is fundamental to any virtuous system.