EXPOSURE TO VIBRATION AND SELF-REPORTED HEALTH COMPLAINTS OF RIVETERS IN THE AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY

Workers using vibrating tools may experience neurological and vascular symptoms in the fingers and hands. The effect of vibration expsure on bone and joint disorders in the hand, arm and shoulder is less clear. In a cross-sectional study, riveters and controls in an aircraft company were investigated for vibration exposure and health complaints. Vibration measurements showed that frequency-weighted acceleration levels for riveting hammers and bucking bars ranged from 5.5 to 12.3 m s-2. The calculated equivalent frequency-weighted acceleration for a period of 4 h was A(eq, 4) = 2.8 m s-2 for the riveters and A(eq, 4) = 1.0 m s-2 for the controls. In the questionnaire survey 101 riveters reported statistically significant more complaints of pain and stiffness in their hands and arms when compared with 76 controls with no, or little, exposure to vibration. After 10 years of exposure statistically significant age-adjusted odds ratios (P < 0.05) were found for vibration-induced white finger (VWF) (1.9) and pain or stiffness of the wrist (3.2). Although they were not statistically significant (0.05 < P < 0.10) odds ratios appreciably greater than 1 were found for numbness in fingers (1.6) and pain or stiffness in the elbow (1.6) and the shoulder (1.5), and these complaints were strongly associated with duration of exposure to vibration. With logistic regression the probabilities for a riveter of having symptoms of VWF after 10 and 20 years of exposure was estimated to be P = 0.18 and P = 0.29, respectively, which can be compared with the prevalences predicted by the dose-response relationship for VWF in ISO 5349, which are 10 and 30%. The results of this study suggest that exposure to vibration from working with impact power tools can contribute to complaints of pain and stiffness in the hand, arm and shoulder, and especially in the wrist.