Stop hand-arm vibration syndrome before it starts
HAVS is painful, permanent and preventable. Cutting vibration at the tool keeps crews inside the exposure limits and gives each operator hours of trigger time instead of minutes.
Hand-arm vibration syndrome is permanent damage to the nerves, blood vessels and joints of the hand and arm from vibrating tools such as needle scalers. It cannot be cured, only prevented, and the one control that reduces the vibration itself is a lower-vibration tool. Model for model, Trelawny's Vibro-Lo™ tools run 5.2× to 11.5× lower at the worse grip than the standard tools they replace.
What is hand-arm vibration syndrome?
It develops slowly, is easy to miss until it is advanced, and cannot be reversed. For the operator it means pain, numbness and lost grip. For the employer it means lost skilled labour, sickness absence, claims and regulatory exposure.
- Vibration white finger (Raynaud's phenomenon): fingertips blanch white, then redden painfully as circulation returns, often triggered by cold.
- Tingling and numbness, a "dead hand" feeling that comes and goes.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: wrist and hand pain, weakness and clumsiness.
- Lost grip strength and dexterity: small fixings become difficult.
Early symptoms come and go, a bit of tingling after a shift, the odd cold finger. Left unchecked they become constant. Spotting them early is the only way to stop HAVS progressing.
Two daily limits drive the duty
Both are A(8) values: the vibration dose averaged over an 8-hour day, combining how hard a tool vibrates with how long the trigger is held. The dose rises with the square of the magnitude, so a tool that vibrates twice as hard uses the allowance four times as fast.
- Exposure action value
- 2.5 m/s² A(8)100 HSE exposure points. The employer must assess the risk and act to reduce exposure.
- Exposure limit value
- 5.0 m/s² A(8)400 points. Must not be exceeded.
The hierarchy of control, most to least effective
Lower-vibration tools
The only control that cuts the vibration itself, so every operator gains trigger time.
Job rotation
Shares the exposure, at a cost in efficiency and consistency.
Limit trigger time
Protective, and directly cuts productivity.
PPE
Anti-vibration gloves give little real reduction and cannot be relied on for compliance.
The rules that apply at sea
- EU Directive 2002/44/EC, which sets the 2.5 and 5.0 values.
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, the UK duty to assess, control and provide health surveillance.
- Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Vibration at Work) Regulations 2007, the maritime transposition for seafarers.
- Maritime Labour Convention 2006: shipowners must protect crews from harmful vibration.
- Measured to ISO 5349 (hand-arm) and ISO 2631 (whole-body); UK marine guidance MGN 353/446.
Whole-body vibration is a separate hazard. Transmitted through decks, seats and machinery, especially in engine rooms and on fast craft, it has its own daily limit of 1.15 m/s² A(8) and is assessed under ISO 2631. Repeated shocks can injure the back and spine. The principle is the same: control vibration at the source.
How much lower, exactly
Each Vibro-Lo tool's declared vibration at the worse of its two grips, divided by the same figure for the standard Trelawny tool it replaces: same needle count, same handle type, both numbers from Trelawny's own specification tables.
| Pair, standard → Vibro-Lo | Standard m/s² | Vibro-Lo m/s² | Reduction | Trigger time gained |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Needle, 28-needle pistol: 3BPG → VL303 | 42.57 (K = 14.26) | 3.70 | 132× longer | |
| Chisel: 3BPG → VL303 | 41.75 | 4.30 | 94× longer | |
| Chisel: 2BPG → VL203 | 32.19 | 4.14 | 60× longer | |
| Needle, 19-needle pistol: 2BPG → VL203 | 18.57 | 3.26 | 32× longer | |
| Chisel: 2B → VL223 | 19.51 | 3.69 | 28× longer | |
| Needle, 19-needle in-line: 2B → VL223 | 15.31 | 2.95 | 27× longer |
Why you will not find "up to 7×" or "8×" here. Both are in circulation, from Trelawny's product page and from distributor listings, and neither names the pair being compared, so neither can be checked. 8× matches only the 3BPG against the VL303, and only at the primary grip. We publish the range and the working instead. For trigger times tool by tool, see how long one person can run a needle scaler.
The low-vibration workforce calculator
Set the descaling workload and how hard a standard tool vibrates, and see how many operators it takes to keep everyone within the action value, against Vibro-Lo™.
Vibro-Lo™ reference: 3.26 m/s² (VL203, declared at its worse grip). Exposure action value = 2.5 m/s² A(8). Operators needed so that none exceeds it, by the HSE exposure-points method (points = 2 × magnitude² × trigger-hours).
Lower vibration is also lower cost
When a tool allows hours of trigger time before the action value instead of minutes, one operator covers most of a job instead of handing over after a few minutes.
- More work per operator
- Hours, not minutesFewer people and less downtime for the same scope.
- Productivity in the field
- Almost 2×Reported by the Trelawny, BSO Svendborg and SepcoTech programme.
- Power kept
- 3,000 bpmVL303, against the 3BPG's 2,200, on 2.6 l/s of air against 3.8.
- Compliance, evidenced
- At the sourceThe control the HSE favours most, not just managed paperwork.
Low-vibration tools across multiple fleets
The partnership formed around one goal: reduce the HAVS risk traditional descaling tools pose to crews. The low-vibration range, model for model 5.2 to 11.5 times lower at the worse grip, was rolled out across fleets for operators including TB Marine and Hafnia.
- Almost doubled productivity, with less fatigue and longer working time
- Compliance with EU Directive 2002/44/EC
"Together, we're setting new industry standards that fleets worldwide can rely on." BSO Svendborg
The Trelawny low-vibration range
VL203, VL223 and VL303 scalers
3 h 39 min to 5 h 45 min of trigger time before the action value.
View the range → With extractionTVS needle scalers
Low-vibration scalers with a vacuum shroud, for dust you have to capture at source.
View TVS scalers → Walk-behindSF11 deck hammer
The operator steers it rather than holding the impact: about 6 h to the limit value.
View deck hammers →Every Trelawny tool, sorted by vibration: the vibration comparison table.
Low-vibration needle scalers in use
Talk to us about low-vibration tools
Tell us about the job and we will specify a Vibro-Lo™ set-up that keeps your crew within the exposure limits. Tools you add as you browse appear below.
- The descaling work
- Hours of trigger time a day
- Number of operators
- Tools you use today
- Timeframe
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