Vibration exposure and prevention in Finland

The number of annually compensated occupational diseases due to exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) has decreased during the last 15 years. The number of exposed workers has been declining in Finland, especially in forestry work, as harvesters have increasingly replaced manual chain saw operations. During the entire 1970s, forest work caused more cases of vibration-induced occupational diseases than all industrial branches together. The decrease is mainly due to the technical development of chain saws, but also to the effective health care services in Finland. Other factors such as warm transport, warm rest cabins in which to take pauses at work, warm meals, adequate protective clothing, and vocationally adjusted early medical rehabilitation have helped to cut down health hazards, especially in forest work. The number of new cases has been decreasing in Finland not only in forestry but also in other industries. In Finland a considerable amount of research has been conducted to hand-arm vibration, resulting in the increased awareness of the health risks related to certain occupations. This has helped to carry out the Primary Health Care Act (1972) followed by the Occupational Health Care Act (1979) which obligates employers to arrange occupational health care for their employees. We believe that the research activity has contributed significantly to achieving the present health in Finnish work places. The purpose of the present paper is to describe the cases of occupational exposure to HAV, and the effectiveness of different preventive measures in Finland.