Powertool selection

Once the user has established whether the type of tool to be purchased poses a risk of excessive HAV exposure, this will help determine the tool selection process. For the 85% of applications where there is low risk, a cursory check of the tools vibration level should be made to ensure that they are not purchasing a particularly poor tool. But in most cases, DEWALT’s modern range offers leading vibration levels in most categories.

For users who have established that there is a potential HAV risk, the powertool selection process can be critical. Variation of levels of similar machines on the market can vary hugely. Eg. Demolition Hammers can vary typically from 13m/s2 to 30m/s2 in Tri-Axial measurement. As a general guide, more modern machines will have a lower level of vibration although this should be checked.

There are four things to consider with HAV:

1. Vibration Level of the tool
2. Usage Level of the tool
3. Productivity Level of the tool
4. Multi Tool Usage

Multi Tool Usage

In many cases, users will use a combination of tools during a working day. Therefore the total vibration exposure needs to be calculated of all tools. In the ‘Multi-tool calculator’ section is a calculator which will allow you to input the tools used during the day including the usage times to calculate the total vibration exposure.