ISO 5349-2:2001

Overview

ISO 5349-2:2001 - "Mechanical vibration - Measurement and evaluation of human exposure to hand‑transmitted vibration - Part 2" provides practical workplace guidance for measuring hand‑transmitted vibration in accordance with ISO 5349‑1. It focuses on how to obtain representative vibration magnitude measurements at grip zones or hand‑held workpieces, estimate daily exposure times, and calculate the 8‑hour energy‑equivalent vibration value A(8). The standard applies to hand‑held, hand‑guided and hand‑fed machines, vibrating workpieces and controls of mobile or fixed machinery.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Measurement strategy and planning
  • Identify discrete operations making up the worker’s normal pattern and select operations that significantly contribute to daily exposure.
  • Organize measurement campaigns to capture variability of tools, modes of operation, inserted tools and changing work conditions.
• Quantities to evaluate
  • Single‑axis root‑mean‑square frequency‑weighted acceleration (a_hwx, a_hwy, a_hwz).
  • Vibration total value for an operation (hvi): root‑sum‑of‑squares of the three axes.
  • Daily vibration exposure A(8) calculated from hvi and exposure durations.
• Measurement equipment and procedures
  • Use appropriate instrumentation referenced in ISO 8041 and the measurement requirements of ISO 5349‑1.
  • Guidance on mounting accelerometers, mechanical filters and verification of the measurement chain (see informative Annexes C and D).
• Uncertainty and reporting
  • Identify sources of uncertainty in acceleration and exposure time measurements; evaluate combined uncertainties when estimating daily exposure.
  • Provide complete reporting of methods, measurement locations, durations and relevant contextual information to support interpretation.
• Informative annexes
  • Examples of measurement locations (A), evaluation over periods greater than one day (B), filters (C), accelerometer mounting (D) and calculation examples (E).

Practical applications and users

ISO 5349‑2 is used by:

• Occupational health & safety professionals and occupational hygienists performing exposure assessments for vibration‑related risk management.
• Ergonomists and safety managers developing controls or work‑rotation plans to reduce A(8).
• Tool and machine manufacturers validating handle/vibration performance.
• Regulators and auditors documenting compliance with workplace vibration limits. Practical outputs include representative vibration measurements, A(8) exposure estimates, uncertainty assessments and standardized measurement reports suitable for risk assessment and control decisions.

Related standards

• ISO 5349‑1:2001 - General requirements for measurement and evaluation of hand‑transmitted vibration.
• ISO 8041 - Human response to vibration - Measuring instrumentation.
• ISO 8662 (series) - Hand‑held power tools - Measurement of vibrations at the handle.
• ISO 2041 / ISO 5805 - Vibration and human exposure vocabulary.

Keywords: ISO 5349-2:2001, hand-transmitted vibration, A(8), workplace measurement, vibration exposure, accelerometer mounting, occupational hygiene, vibration assessment.