Daily Vibration Exposure in the Context of State and European Legislature: A Case Study among Chainsaw Operators in Croatia

Abstract

The Ordinance on Occupational Safety and Health in Forestry proposes no more than 4 h of effective chainsaw work daily, while EU Directive 2002/44/EC proposes an EAV of 2.5 m/s2, and an ELV of 5 m/s2. The aim of this paper was to compare and assess the viability of the proposed restrictions. A case study in Croatia including 91 felled and processed trees, a detailed time study, and vibration magnitude measuring on European beech wet wood in compliance with ISO 5349-1:2001 and ISO 5349-2:2001 standards were performed. The results implied that tree species, processing method, and DBH have no influence on the time structure of working hours. Using bigger and more powerful chainsaws resulted in higher A(8) values; it was also noted that the right hand is more exposed. On average, none of the observed chainsaws exceeded 5 m/s2 of A(8). It can be concluded that state legislature, which allows a maximum of 4 h of chainsaw work a day, is appropriately protecting chainsaw workers from vibration exposure, but is also obsolete (1986) as it only uses the time limit. In contrast, European legislature requires a methodical approach to A(8) calculation and leaves room for individual evaluation of specific chainsaw work, which opens up possibilities of extending or shortening some chainsaw operations.