New Torque Tool Report Delivers Blow to Impact Tools

New Torque Tool Report Delivers Blow to Impact Tools

Pneumatic impact wrenches such as those typically used for commercial vehicle wheel bolting could prove hazardous to your health if operated for more than a few minutes per day. That’s the sobering conclusion of a new assessment, commissioned by Norbar Torque Tools, comparing a typical pneumatic impact wrench and Norbar’s Pneutorque® torque wrench. The report found that users of impact wrenches could reach their daily vibration exposure limit in as little as 34 minutes of use.

The new assessment, carried out by the Industrial Noise & Vibration Centre, was commissioned in response to the new regulations which came into effect in July 2005. Designed to limit worker’s exposure to vibration, the ‘Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005’ defines two exposure values. The Daily Exposure Action Value (EAV) of 2.5 m/s² is the level above which an employer must introduce a programme of controls to eliminate or reduce exposure and provide health surveillance to operators regularly exposed above the action value. A second limit, the Daily Exposure Limit Value (ELV) of 5.0 m/s², is the level above which the employer must take immediate action to prevent further exposure to vibration. Cont…