New frequency weighting of hand-arm vibration.

A new frequency weighting method to assess hand-arm vibration exposure is proposed in this paper. The influence of frequency components was first estimated using the method of multivariate analysis, then a simple form of the weighting curve was introduced. Compared with the frequency weighting in the current ISO 5349-1 (2001), the proposed weighting can better explain the relationship between rates of symptoms and vibration exposure among vibrating tool users. Although this new weighting is derived from limited data, it suggests that the current weighting in ISO 5349-1 should be changed to give more weight to the high frequency range and less weight to the low frequency range.