Hand arm vibration in construction

Duration

Minimum half a day of 3 learning hours

Purpose/scope

The purpose of this standard is to provide the basic awareness for recognising, managing, and mitigating the effects of hand-arm vibration.

Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) is also known as vibration white finger (VWF) and dead finger. It is a secondary form of Raynaud's syndrome, an industrial injury triggered by continuous use of vibrating hand-held machinery.

The scope of this standard covers:

• causes of HAVS
• hazards associated with HAVS
• symptoms of HAVS
• short and long-term effects of HAVS
• maximum daily exposure levels associated with HAVS
• prevention and reduction strategies for HAVS
• monitoring and surveillance strategies for HAVS
• responsibilities of workers and managers associated with HAVS
• main legislation, codes of practice, and/or standards that apply to HAVS, including safety.

Occupational relevance

Training delivered against this standard would be relevant to the following occupational group(s):

• operative and craft
• supervision
• management and leadership.

Candidate pre-requisites

There are no candidate pre-requisites as part of this standard.

Instruction/supervision

As a minimum, course instructors must be able to demonstrate that, in relation to this standard, they have:

• a train the trainer or instructional techniques course certificate
• successfully completed training to this standard 
• at least 2 years relevant industrial experience
• a verifiable CV.

Delivery

Delivery may be in an on or off the job environment.

The class size and candidate/instructor ratio must allow training to be delivered in a safe manner and enable candidates to achieve the learning outcomes. 

The following delivery methods may be used in the delivery of this standard:

• classroom
• e-learning
• a blend of classroom and e-learning.

This standard is considered to contain 51 per cent or more theoretical training.

Assessment

For the successful completion of training, the trainer will be required to make a declaration of the learner’s contribution during the course and that they are confident the learner has understood the content of the course.

Quality assurance

Quality assurance against this standard will require initial approval of the training organisation and their content mapped to the standard. 

CITB will also conduct an approval intervention, either desk-based or centre visit, to ensure the training organisation can meet the requirements of the training standard. 

Approved training organisations (ATOs) will be required to present information on records of training and assessment upon request to CITB for desk based analysis. They will also be visited annually by the CITB quality assurance team.

Renewal/refresher

Recommended refreshment: Health & Safety Executive (HSE), other relevant codes of practice or industry card scheme criteria recommend that the candidate completes a refresher of his/her training, (i.e. to ensure their knowledge and/or skills are up to date) every 5 years.

Approval date

November 2018

Review cycle

Either on request or in 3 years from approval date.

Learning outcomes

The candidate will be able to:

• list the causes of HAVS
• list the hazards associated with HAVS
• list the symptoms of HAVS
• list the short and long-term effects of HAVS
• list the maximum daily exposure levels associated with HAVS
• list the prevention and reduction strategies for HAVS
• list the monitoring and surveillance strategies for HAVS
• list the legal responsibilities of workers and managers associated with HAVS
• list the main legislation, codes of practice, and/or standards that apply to HAVS, including safety.

Additional information about this standard

• Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 on the HSE website
• The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 on GOV.UK