Exposure conditions and Raynaud's phenomenon among riveters in the aircraft industry

Riveters in the aircraft industry work daily with such vibrating tools as riveting hammers, bucking bars, drills, and rivet shavers. The main contribution of the vibration exposure comes from the riveting tools. Three hundred and forty riveters working at the Aircraft Division of Saab-Scania were investigated in respect to vibration exposure and symptoms of Raynaud's phenomenon. The employment time of this group varied from 1 to 44 years. Within the group, 86 riveters showed symptoms of Raynaud's phenomenon. The latency until first sign of injury ranged from 0 to 27 years with a median of almost 11 years. Although the exposure time for the riveting hammer was 1 min and the total tool time was 40 min per day, more than 50% of the riveters had symptoms of vibration-induced white finger (VWF) after more than 10 years of work. The guidelines of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/DIS 5349) suggest a lesser risk, and they should therefore be complemented with additional criteria to be valid for percussion tools.