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Updated: Dec 7, 2025

Measurement of the Hand Transmitted Vibration of the Human Hand Arm System During Operation of a Hand Tractor
Published on: June 16, 2021
Preliminary comparison of vibration measurement accuracy between a low cost, portable acceleration measurement unit
Benjamin Pierson1, Paul Faestel1, June T Spector2
1Madigan Army Medical Center, Department of Preventive Medicine.
Abstract:
Characterization of Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) exposure is important for the development and evaluation of mitigation strategies for occupational WBV. However, barriers associated with cost and complexity limit widespread use of current gold-standard accelerometer (GSA) measurement systems. Small, simple, low cost Acceleration Measurement Unit (AMU) devices with built-in batteries and memory potentially allow for more efficient collection of WBV data, but the measurement accuracy of these devices need to be evaluated. Using known acceleration inputs generated by an accelerometer calibrator and field collected vibration profiles simulating real-world vibration exposures, the measurements of an AMU device and GSA system were compared. Analysis of accelerometer calibrator data showed no significant difference in weighted acceleration (Aw) measurements between the systems (mean difference -0.001 m/s2, p = 0.95). In field collected vibration profile testing, differences in Aw measurements were small (0.06 m/s2, 4.6%). These results suggest the AMU evaluated in this study may be acceptable for measuring occupational WBV.
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