• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.249-261
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• 2020

Background: Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent worker health conditions worldwide. Although the effect of noise exposure on hearing is well researched, other workplace exposures may account for significant hearing loss. The aim of this review was to determine whether occupational hand-arm vibration exposure through use of power or pneumatic tools, independent of noise exposure, is associated with permanent hearing loss. Do workers suffer from hand-arm vibratione-induced hearing loss? Methods: Peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1981 and 2020 were identified through five online databases with five search keywords. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines, including online database search methodology, study selection, article exclusion, and assessment of potential study design confounders and biases, were followed. Results: Database searches retrieved 697 articles. Fifteen articles that reported 17 studies met the criteria for review. All but two studies revealed statistically significant associations between occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration and hearing loss. The majority of the study results revealed associations between hand-arm vibration and hearing loss, independent of potential age and noise confounders. Conclusion: Few studies have examined the association between occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration and hearing loss. Dose response data were limited as only one study measured vibration intensity and duration. Although the majority of studies identified statistically significant associations, causal relationships could not be determined. Further research using standardized and uniform measurement protocols is needed to confirm whether the association between occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration and permanent hearing loss is causal and the mechanism(s).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.1361-1364
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• 2001

The recent national contract (Ecotechnopia 21) supported by the ministry of environment puts much significance on new issues for the assessment of human effects arising from vibration and noise exposed to human. This paper focuses only on hand-arm vibration since it has been a major problem in protecting vibration exposure to human. To set up a systematic way of assessing adverse effects of hand-arm vibration, surveys were made on recent international standards and researches related to hand-arm vibration. The measurement and evaluation methods of hand-arm transmitted vibration, the relationship between vibration exposure and effects on health, and the assessment methods of nerve dysfunctions are addressed in this paper. Those methods are linked into a logical way of assessing effects of hand-arm vibration on human. Finally, the current activities and achievements in this work are briefly summarised.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.433-438
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• 2001

This study is performed to evaluate hand-arm vibration syndrome(HA VS) of the workers in swaging process. Vibration measurement and assessment of human exposure are based on the international standard(ISO 5349). Triaxial acceleration of each operation and exposure time are measured to predict the periods before finger blanching, As results, it is found that acceleration is concerned with the diameter of pipes in swaging process, and also found that combined work is more harmful than a single operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.691-694
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• 2001

The recent national contract (Ecotechnopia 21) supported by the ministry of environment puts much significance on new issues for the assessment of human effects arising from vibration and noise exposed to human. This paper focuses only on hand-arm vibration since it has been a major problem in protecting vibration exposure to human. To set up a systematic way of assessing adverse effects of hand-arm vibration, surveys were made on recent international standards and researches related to hand-arm vibration. The measurement and evaluation methods of hand-arm transmitted vibration, the relationship between vibration exposure and effects on health, and the assessment methods of nerve dysfunctions are addressed in this paper. Those methods are linked into a logical way of assessing effects of hand-arm vibration on human. Finally, the current activities and achievements in this work are briefly summarised.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2827-2832
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• 2016

Purpose: To estimate the number of deaths attributable to second hand smoking (SHS) in Morocco in 2012. Materials and Methods: prevalence based study focusing on mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and lung cancer among non-smokers aged 35 and over. Prevalence of SHS among never smokers was gathered from a national cross sectional survey on tobacco and population attributable risk (PAR) was calculated by applying PARs to mortality. The analyses were stratified by sex, age and area of exposure. Results: Rates for exposure to SHS among men aged 35-64 years ranged from 20.0% at home to 57.4% at work. Among non-smoking Moroccans aged 35 and over, 233 (IC: 147 - 246) deaths were attributable to exposure to SHS; 156 (IC: 100 - 221) in women and 77 (IC: 44 -125) in men. A total of 173 (122 - 222) deaths were estimated to have been caused by exposure only at home, 34 (9 - 76) by exposure only at the work place and 26 (15 - 58) by exposure both at home and work places. Exposure to SHS could be responsible for 182 (128 - 237) deaths from IHD and 51 (19 - 109) from lung cancer. Conclusions: These data confirm that SHS needs urgent attention in Morocco.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2013

Background: The C-arm fluoroscope is an essential tool for the intervention of pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the radiation exposure experienced by the hand and chest of pain physicians during C-arm fluoroscopy-guided procedures. Methods: This is a prospective study about radiation exposure to physicians during transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) and medial branch block (MBB). Four pain physicians were involved in this study. Data about effective dose (ED) at each physician's right hand and left side of the chest, exposure time, radiation absorbed dose (RAD), and the distance from the center of the X-ray field to the physician during X-ray scanning were collected. Results: Three hundred and fifteen cases were included for this study. Demographic data showed no significant differences among the physicians in the TFESIs and MBBs. In the TFESI group, there was a significant difference between the ED at the hand and chest in all the physicians. In physician A, B and C, the ED at the chest was more than the ED at the hand. The distance from the center of the X-ray field to physician A was more than that of the other physicians, and for the exposure time, the ED and RAD in physician A was less than that of the other physicians. In the MBB group, there was no difference in the ED at the hand and chest, except for physician D. The distance from the center of the X-ray field to physician A was more than that of the other physicians and the exposure time in physician A was less than that of the other physicians. Conclusions: In conclusion, the distance from the radiation source, position of the hand, experience and technique can correlate with the radiation dose.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.299-305
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• 2000

In this study, the characteristics of transmitted vibration on hand-arm system are examined when operating electric hand tools. Also through the correlation analysis between anthroponetric data and transmitted vibration, and comparison study with appropriate amount of work done based on the ISO criteriaa, the basic data for the ergonomic work design can be presented. The types of electric tools and works for the experiment are drill (general type and impact type), grinder, wire brush and steel to analyze the characteristics of transmitted vibrations, the amount of transmitted vibrations in X, Y and Z direction at tool(T), hand(H), wrist(W), and the joint between foream and upper arm(A) were measured at the frequency range of 6.3∼1000[HZ]. Also, the limit of human exposure to vibration, and the response of frequency were conducted.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.959-974
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• 2014

Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) is a group of diseases caused by exposure of the hands to vibration while operating the hand held power tools such as road breaker, drilling machine, demolition hammer in construction works. In this paper, area-changed capacitive micro-accelerometer is designed to measure the vibration exposure on worker's hand when operating a drilling machine on various blocks such as clay block, paver block and solid cement block. The design process includes mathematical modelling of micro-accelerometer and simulations are done using INTELLISUITE 8.6. Experimental results are taken for various blocks surfaces using conventional and micro-accelerometer. Comparisons show that usage of area-changed micro-accelerometer for Hand-arm vibration monitoring provides better sensitivity, which in turn reduces the risk of HAVS in workers.

• IE interfaces
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.375-383
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of vibration induced by the powered hand tools used in the automobile assembly lines, and estimate the prevalence of vibration syndrome. The acceleration levels of four major powered hand tools were measured using the ISO 5349 method along with the time of exposure to the vibration of the hand tools. Four-hour-energy-equivalent frequency-weighted accelerations ranged from $1.27m/s^2$ to $2.58m/s^2$, After exposure to vibration for 12.6 years, about 10% of the workers using impact ranches were expected to develop Raynaud's disease. For the workers using grinders, 16.6% of the workers were expected to develop Raynaud's disease. The results would be of help in developing the guidelines of local vibration control.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.438-445
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop exposure factor data for the Korean child population, with a specific focus on behavior characteristics such as hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth and an analysis of influential factors. Methods: We divided environments into two places, which were house/indoor and nursery. A total of 400 children (house/indoor) and a total of 162 children (nursery) were recruited from the cities of Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, and Gwangju. The children were divided into two groups. We conducted direct measurement by using one hour of videotaping alongside questionnaire surveys. This was performed to calculate behavior rates, such as how many children perform hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth behaviors. Results: The respective average frequencies of hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth were $0.8{\pm}2.23$ and $0.82{\pm}2.64contacts/hr$ for house/indoor. The respective average frequencies of hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth were $2.87{\pm}4.63$ and $1.47{\pm}3.84contacts/hr$ in the nursery group. For the mouthing participants, the average frequencies of hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth were 3.31 and 3.20 contacts/hr in house, and 4.80 and 3.26 in nursery. Compared to other countries such as the USA, the frequencies of hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth behaviors found in this study were relatively lower. Conclusions: Children have the potential for exposure to toxic substances through non-dietary ingestion pathways by mouthing objects or their fingers. In this study, the mouthing frequency was relatively lower than that found in Western countries. This can be explained that mouthing behaviour may be affected by culture and lifestyle characteristics.