Maintenance-of-way workers in North America who construct railroad tracks utilize specialized powered-hand tools, which lead to hand-transmitted vibration exposure. In this study, the maintenance-of-way workers were surveyed about neuro-musculoskeletal disorders, powered-hand tools and work practices. Information about vibration emission data of trade specific powered-hand tools for the North American and European Union markets was searched online to obtain respective user information of manufacturer and compared to non-commercial international data banks. The survey showed that maintenance-of-way workers frequently reported typical hand-transmitted vibration-related symptoms, and appear to be at a risk for neuro-musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity. Of all of the powered-hand tools used by this trade, 88% of the selected tools exceeded a=5 m/s² and were above vibration magnitudes of common tools of other comparable industries. This may create a risk if these tools are used throughout an 8-h work day and management of vibration exposure may be needed. In the North-American market, limited or no vibration emission data is available from manufacturers or distributors. Vibration emission information for powered-hand tools, including vibration emission levels (in m/s²), uncertainty factor K, and the applied testing standard/norm may assist employers, users and occupational health providers to better assess, compare and manage risk.

建造铁轨的北美维护人员使用专用的手动工具，导​​致手传播的振动暴露。在这项研究中，对维护人员进行了有关神经肌肉骨骼疾病，电动工具和工作习惯的调查。在线搜索有关北美和欧盟市场的专用电动工具的振动排放数据的信息，以获取制造商的各自用户信息，并将其与非商业国际数据库进行比较。调查显示，在途维修人员经常报告典型的手传振动相关症状，并且似乎有上肢神经肌肉骨骼疾病的风险。在该行业使​​用的所有手动工具中，²并高于其他可比行业的通用工具的振动幅度。如果在整个8小时的工作日内使用这些工具，并且可能需要管理振动暴露，则可能会带来风险。在北美市场，制造商或分销商提供的振动排放数据有限或没有。电动工具的振动排放信息，包括振动排放水平（以m / s ^2为单位），不确定性系数K和适用的测试标准/规范，可以帮助雇主，用户和职业健康提供者更好地评估，比较和管理风险。