MEPs meet to discuss Vibrations directive

UK MEPs met with the European Council last week to discuss possible concessions to the proposed EC directive on vibrations. The Physical Agents (Vibrations) Directive would mean that site machinery operators would be restricted to driving for just two hours a day.

The European Parliament and Council disagree over the appropriate limit of whole body vibration that can be withstood by an operator in a day. The UK construction industry hopes to have the limit restored to the original ‘common position’ of 1.15m/s/s; UK MEPs have suggested they are prepared to do this if the European Council reduces other limits, such as the ‘action value’ – the level at which vibrations are required to be recorded.

Tim Faithfull, spokesman for the Construction Equipment Association (CEA), said: “This is a complex subject with massive implications for the construction industry. What we must show everybody is that if you limit vibration, you are limiting the amount of time spent in a machine and thus you are affecting the time and cost of projects."
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