Prevention of hand-arm vibration hazards: from laboratory to practice.

Many studies were made throughout the world regarding the medical and technical aspects of hand-arm vibration since the first description by Loriga in 1911 of the vibration syndrome. Despite that the protection of operators against vibration hazards had progressed very slowly in practice with one notable exception, the case of chain saw users for whom several countries developed a comprehensive programme to eradicate the diseases successfully; regulations, antivibration tools, medical screening, preventive treatment. If all these actions are not carried out simultaneously in an industrial sector the transmission of knowledge from the laboratory to practice may be a failure or very costly in money, time and energy, as this article will show it in the case of suspended rammers and breakers.