Background: Standardized exposure assessments were conducted to quantify the historical occupational exposure to hand-arm vibration of workers in the German construction, underground coal mining, woodworking, and metalworking industries. Methods: A two-step approach was used to assess historical vibration exposure. In the first step, individual work histories were reconstructed by standardized personal interviews. The interview focused on the identification of relevant power tools used throughout the working life. In the second step, an equipment-exposure-matrix was constructed by industrial hygiene measurements. By linking the power tools in the work history to the equipment-exposure-matrix, individual daily, and long-term vibration exposures can be quantified. Results and conclusionsA total of 423 power tools were identified for 5,115 exposure segments over a period of 50 years. 97.2% of the vibration values were based on industrial hygiene measurements. The total vibration value (ahv) of the power tools used varied between 0.8 m/s2 and 65.2 m/s2 with a median value of 14.2 m/s2. The median value of cumulative vibration exposure is Dhv = 121,971 (range: 23-3,374,640) m2/s4·day, corresponding to a daily vibration exposure of ahv(8) = 7 m/s2 for 2489 working days (11.3 years).This study provides a detailed description of hand-arm vibration exposure among workers in the related industries studied. Our analyses indicate that the quantification of daily vibration exposure is often uncertain and should be interpreted with caution. In contrast, cumulative vibration exposure is a more reliable exposure parameter for describing general working conditions and for guiding the prevention and compensation of vibration-related health problems.

BACKGROUND: The Occupational Safety and Health Monitoring and Assessment Tool (OSH-MAT) is a practical instrument that is currently used in the German woodworking and metalworking industries to monitor safety conditions at workplaces. The 12-item scoring system has three subscales rating technical, organizational, and personnel-related conditions in a company. Each item has a rating value ranging from 1 to 9, with higher values indicating higher standard of safety conditions. METHODS: The reliability of this instrument was evaluated in a cross-sectional survey among 128 companies and its validity among 30,514 companies. The inter-rater reliability of the instrument was examined independently and simultaneously by two well-trained safety engineers. Agreement between the double ratings was quantified by the intraclass correlation coefficient and absolute agreement of the rating values. The content validity of the OSH-MAT was evaluated by quantifying the association between OSH-MAT values and 5-year average injury rates by Poisson regression analysis adjusted for the size of the companies and industrial sectors. The construct validity of OSH-MAT was examined by principle component factor analysis. RESULTS: Our analysis indicated good to very good inter-rater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.64–0.74) of OSH-MAT values with an absolute agreement of between 72% and 81%. Factor analysis identified three component subscales that met exactly the structure theory of this instrument. The Poisson regression analysis demonstrated a statistically significant exposure–response relationship between OSH-MAT values and the 5-year average injury rates. CONCLUSION: These analyses indicate that OSH-MAT is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used effectively to monitor safety conditions at workplaces.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Occupational Health*