Review of occupational standards and guidelines for hand-arm (segmental) vibration syndrome (HAVS)

This article reviews the health effects, treatment, prevention strategies, and international standards for hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). It draws attention to the proposed International Standards Organization (ISO) 1998 revision requirement to base the assessment of vibration on the root-sum-of-squares for all directions rather than the dominant direction; the European Economic Commission (EEC) directives with their threshold, action, and ceiling levels; and the intent of the EEC, United Kingdom, and Japanese jurisdictions to propose action levels to prevent the incidence of vibration-induced Raynaud's phenomenon (VWF) from exceeding the background level in their countries. Proposals for the revision of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) are presented.