Comparison Between the Biomechanical Responses of the Hand and Foot When Exposed to Vertical Vibration

Workers can be exposed daily to foot-transmitted vibration (FTV) from standing on mobile equipment or vibrating platforms and surfaces. This results in a consistent risk of developing neurological, vascular, and musculoskeletal problems. To date, there are no international stand-ards describing procedures with which to evaluate the health risks deriving from long-term ex-posure to FTV. To study the applicability of hand–arm vibration (HAV) standards to the foot, the biomechanical responses of the hand and foot in terms of the frequency response function upon varying contact conditions were compared. Results evidenced similarities between the responses of the wrist and ankle, with differences in resonance for the fingers and toes. The study confirms that HAV standards are more suitable than whole-body vibration standards for evaluating higher frequency exposure to FTV.