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High Pressure Water Jetting Assignment
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Added on 2021-04-16
High Pressure Water Jetting Assignment
Added on 2021-04-16
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Are Personnel Involved in High Pressure Water Jetting (HPWJ) Aware of VibrationHazard Causing Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)?
1Executive summaryProlonged use of hand-held vibration instruments and tools has been found to result in hand-armvibration syndrome (HAVS). This syndrome is commonly manifested by neurological, vascularor musculoskeletal abnormalities. Owing to the high prevalence of HAVS among workers whooperate powerful tools, such as high pressure water jet engines, the desire to conduct a review forevaluating awareness on the condition was developed. The research is based on a survey that isconducted in a company Dyna-Jet Pte Ltdthat operates in the oil and petrochemical sector. Thecompany has a range of services, one of which includes high pressure water jetting that currentlyemploys 40 workers. The research is aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and beliefs ofthe workers and their supervisors regarding the impact on prolonged operation of HPWJ on theoverall health and wellbeing of the individuals, with the use of surveys. Furthermore, the surveywill also help in assessing awareness of the participants on occurrence of hand-arm vibrationsyndrome due to their nature of work.
2Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................41.1 Background............................................................................................................................41.2 Problem statement.................................................................................................................51.3 Purpose of the Research.........................................................................................................51.4 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................61.5 Rationale................................................................................................................................7Chapter 2: Literature Review...........................................................................................................82.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................82.2 Conceptual Framework..........................................................................................................82.3 High Pressure Water Jetting (HPWJ) tool and its relation to Hand Arm VibrationSyndrome (HAVS)......................................................................................................................92.4 Health Hazards in relation to HAVS...................................................................................102.5 Knowledge of the workers in relation to vibration hazards.................................................122.6 International Guidelines on Vibration Hazard and Code of Practise..................................132.7 Difference between the strategies used in order to control vibration hazards.....................152.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................17Chapter 3: Methodology................................................................................................................183.1 Participants..........................................................................................................................183.2 Research design...................................................................................................................19
33.3 Instrumentation....................................................................................................................193.4 Limitation............................................................................................................................20Chapter 4: Data Analysis...............................................................................................................214.1 Analysis of data collected from 20 workers........................................................................214.2 Analysis of data collected from 8 Supervisors....................................................................314.3 Analysis of data collected from2 Operational managers.....................................................44Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations...............................................................................48References......................................................................................................................................52
4Chapter 1: Introduction1.1 BackgroundVibration refers to rapid back and forth or oscillating movements. Mechanical vibratorsthat are utilized at work places are found to expose the workers to whole-body vibration (WBV)or hand-arm vibration (HAV). Hand arm vibrations refer to conditions that occur amongindividuals due to continuous use of hand-held power tools and are a major type of occupationalhazard. However, they are most often unrecognized by the organizations and governmentauthorities. Thus, according to the terms of occupational safety, hand arm vibrations are regardedas a specific kind of occupational hazard and are directly responsible for causing hand armvibration syndrome among workers (Chiementin et al. 2013). While the effects of suchvibrations have been found to create adverse impacts on the health and overall wellbeing ofworkers since many years, there is less concern over the damage it creates, upon comparison tochemical and noise related occupational hazards. Hand arm vibration syndrome can be defined asforms of industrial injuries that are triggered by prolonged and continuous use of vibration basedmachinery in the hands. This is a widespread industrial disease and affects thousands of workersglobally (Rolke et al. 2013). The condition is found to exert direct negative impacts on the functioning of nerves andmuscles. Furthermore, the blood vessels, joints of wrist, hands, and arms are also found to getseverely affected as a result of this condition. Dyna-Jet Pte Ltd is a company that acts as asolution provider for unique and difficult cleaning problems that are most commonly found inthe oil and petrochemical sector. It offers a plethora of services that encompass underwater andtopside cleaning of various pipework, structures, and tanks (Dynajet.com.sg 2018). The specialty
5of the company is associated with cold cutting of concrete and steel. Its services include highpressure water jetting, the effects of which in causing hand arm vibration syndrome will beevaluated.1.2 Problem statementIn Singapore the control requirement of the hazard is only briefly stated under TheReduction of Vibration, WSH Regulations Part II of Singapore contain a brief overview of thecontrol requirements related to vibrational hazard. These have been included in the form of asubtopic and included as a sub topic in the WSH Guidelines related to Improving Ergonomics inthe Workplace (Geiger et al. 2014). No particular codes of practice or regulations are followed inSingapore for addressing such vibrational hazards. The Dyna-Jet Pte Ltd line of business thatfocuses in high pressure water jetting has around 40 employees. High pressure water jetting hasbeen proved effective for cleaning (Dynajet.com.sg 2018). However, due to the high pressuresthat are involved, this water jetting equipment can become potentially dangerous on incorrectusage (Shen et al. 2013). A background investigation of the aforementioned company that hasprovisions for HPWJ services suggests that the jetting machines operate at high pressure. Thesepressures range from 15,000-40,000psi, for considerable period. Employees working in suchHWJ services are exposed constantly to vibration hazards. These systems discharge sprays ofwater that flows at rates, which ranges between 1.5-10 gallons per minute (Hough 2016). Owingto the fact that there is a lack of adequate guideline regarding safe operation of theseequipment’s, the key stakeholders can suffer damaging effects due to such vibration hazards.1.3 Purpose of the ResearchHand arm vibration syndrome is avoidable and preventable. However, they are found tocreate permanent damages, if undetected for a considerable period of time. This is a major cause
6of disabilities among workers and puts more than 2 million people at a risk of suffering negativehealth consequences (Carlsson and Dahlin 2014). The most common damage includeimpairments in the ability to perform fine work. Furthermore, it also triggers set of painful orfinger blanching attacks (House et al. 2014). The objective of this research is to enhanceknowledge about workplace vibration hazards and create an awareness on its potential effectsamong workers or employees working with HPWJ in the company, Dyna-Jet Pte Ltd. Moreover,the research also aims to assess knowledge of the existing employees regarding vibrationhazards, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of their perceptions and opinions. The researchwill be carried out in a way that will facilitate collecting information from the local authoritiesand regulations on the workplace hazard, thereby addressing the adequacy of the existingguidelines. Due to the fact that mechanical automation has shown rapid advancements in alldeveloping nations of the world, especially in most countries of South East Asia, there is animmediate need to address the aforementioned problem. Thus, early recognition of the hazardwill pave the way for prevention and management of the hazard and its associated health risks. 1.4 Research Objectives The three principle objectives of the research activity include the following:To assess current awareness level of all personnel involved in HPWJ using handheldguns on Vibration hazards and HAVS – in order to understand how well the Vibrationhazard is and HAVS is perceived.To review local regulations, code of practices and organization’s RMP on Vibrationhazard against International standards and industry best practices – in order to gauge
7adequacy, efficacy of current risk management and/or control of vibration hazardinvolving HPWJ. To examine the company’s risk management procedure on Vibration Hazard andinvestigate the extent of mitigation that has been taken.Recommend suitable, possible solutions and/or control measures on Vibration hazard andHAVS. 1.5 RationaleHand arm vibrations are most commonly transmitted from an industrial site or workplaceto the hands and arms of several workers. They are generally caused due to prolonged operationof hand-guided equipment, hand-held power tools, or holding heavy vibration instruments. Themost common symptoms apart from hand arm vibration syndrome include Raynaud’s syndromeor white finger, tendinitis, and carpel tunnel syndrome (Su et al. 2012). These collectivesymptoms are found to result in pain, and numbness in the fingers. High pressure water jettingequipment are composeof a straight jet that emits a uniform stream of liquid through a circularaperture. The typical energy of such straight jet nozzles are estimated to be around 20%. Thus,the straight jets are found to be highly effective on brittle and hard deposits, thereby leading totheir subsequent shatter when hit by the jet device (Huang et al. 2012). Failure of the governmentof Singapore in formulating and enforcing such laws directly lead to decreased awareness andlow level of knowledge among the workers, frequently exposed to such workplace vibrationthreats. The research will first conduct a literature review and draw relevant information in
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