What this is
What is a vibration health surveillance record?
What is a vibration health surveillance record?
It is the record of a worker's progress through tiered health surveillance for hand-transmitted vibration: a screening questionnaire at tiers one and two, a clinical examination at tier three, and formal diagnosis at tier four. It exists because early hand-arm vibration syndrome symptoms are reversible and later ones are not, so the record's job is to catch the transition before it happens.
What is the difference between the surveillance tiers?
Tiers one and two are questionnaires screening for tingling, numbness, blanching and grip loss. Tier three is a clinical assessment applying a staging system. Tier four is formal diagnosis by a physician with vibration-specific competence, carrying legal and reporting consequences.
When should an exposure reassessment be triggered from a surveillance finding?
Whenever surveillance turns up early symptoms, progression against a previous assessment, or a formal diagnosis. A positive finding is evidence the exposure controls are insufficient, a fact the exposure assessment needs, not just a fact about one worker.
Scope
When is a vibration health surveillance record required?
This record tracks a worker through tiered surveillance; it does not assess the vibration exposure itself. Using it in place of the exposure assessment it depends on produces a surveillance history sitting on top of nothing.
Use this template when
- A worker in a vibration-exposed role is due their scheduled tier of surveillance
- A worker reports symptoms consistent with HAVS and the tier needs escalating
- A new worker is placed into a vibration-exposed role and needs a baseline record
- A previous surveillance finding needs comparison to track progression
- A hand-arm vibration assessment shows exposure likely to cause harm and surveillance must start
Do not use it for
- Hand-Arm Vibration Assessment, which quantifies exposure against daily action and limit values rather than tracking health over time.
- Whole Body Vibration Assessment, which covers exposure from driving mobile plant, a different route with different controls.
- Tool Vibration Register, which holds the magnitude and trigger time data behind the exposure, not the worker's symptoms.
- Periodic Health Assessment, the general instrument, which will not apply the tiered pathway or staging this depends on.
- A restriction record, which documents any resulting restriction on duties, rather than the clinical finding that led to it.
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 cl.8.1 requirements does this satisfy?
Vibration health surveillance is one of the more prescriptive corners of this library. Several regimes name the trigger, the tier and the reporting duty explicitly.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, reg.7 | Health surveillance for employees exposed to vibration likely to cause harm, with a record kept for each | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.1 | Implementation of operational controls supporting hazard elimination and risk reduction, including surveillance arrangements | Symptoms reported |
| HSE guidance on HAVS (Stockholm Workshop Scale) | Staging of hand-arm vibration syndrome by sensorineural and vascular component to track progression | Assessment |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.5.3 / UK GDPR Sch.1 Part 1 | Documented information access restricted; special category health data processed only for employment and occupational medicine | Confidentiality |
| ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | Monitoring and measurement of control effectiveness, including the surveillance programme that reports on them | Outcome |
| RIDDOR 2013, Sch.1 (reportable diseases) | Reporting of a diagnosed case of hand-arm vibration syndrome to the enforcing authority | Outcome |
What it does not cover
- Hand-Arm Vibration Assessment, which quantifies exposure against the daily action and limit values under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations.
- Restriction record, which documents any resulting work restriction and its review, rather than the clinical finding itself.
- Exposure Control Plan, which sets out how exposure is reduced at source, not how workers are screened for its effects.
- Tool Vibration Register, which holds the magnitude and trigger time data determining whether exposure is likely to cause harm at all.
- The clinical diagnosis itself, which belongs to the physician's own clinical record, not this surveillance summary.
Global
Vibration Health Surveillance Record requirements by country
The duty to run vibration surveillance is close to absolute in the UK once a threshold is reached. Elsewhere it sits inside a general management-system or general-duty obligation.
OSH Act General Duty Clause; ACGIH threshold limit value
No OSHA vibration standard exists. NIOSH and ACGIH publish guidance values, neither enforceable.
Employers rely on the General Duty Clause and the ACGIH value as a de facto benchmark, so a programme has to justify its own trigger levels rather than cite a regulation.
Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, reg.7
Health surveillance is mandatory where exposure is likely to reach the exposure action value, or where a worker already shows symptoms.
HSE expects a tiered programme matching published guidance, and a confirmed diagnosis is reportable under RIDDOR.
ISO 45001; ISO 5349-1
The management system requires monitoring control effectiveness; ISO 5349 defines the measurement method behind the exposure classification.
Certification audits check the surveillance programme is linked back to the exposure data, not run as a parallel medical exercise.
How to complete it
How to complete a vibration health surveillance record, step by step
The tiered structure is prescriptive enough that most teams get the mechanics right. What decides defensibility is the judgement applied at each transition between tiers.
Tingling that clears overnight is a different finding from numbness that persists, and a form that only asks yes or no collapses that distinction. Recording the staging properly is what lets a later assessor see whether a worker is recovering, stable or progressing.
A single assessment tells you almost nothing, because the condition is defined by change over time in one person. The field comparing against the previous assessment is not a formality; it is the part of the record that does the surveillance work.
The manager needs to know whether the worker can do the task and whether a restriction applies, not the diagnosis behind it. Clinical detail held by occupational health only, with the manager told fitness and restrictions only, keeps the programme lawful as well as trusted.
A worker showing progression is evidence the exposure has not been controlled to the standard assumed. Ticking reassessment triggered and not raising it is where surveillance and exposure programmes stop being connected, this record's actual failure mode.
What auditors find
Most common vibration health surveillance record findings
Vibration surveillance findings concern what happens after a positive answer, not whether the questionnaire was filled in on time.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Positive tier one or two responses recorded but no referral to a qualified person made. | Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, reg.7 | Route any positive symptom response to referral automatically, not to assessor memory. |
| Staging recorded without comparison to the previous assessment, so progression goes undetected. | ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | Require the previous assessment date and staging before a record can be marked complete. |
| Clinical detail disclosed to line management beyond fitness and restrictions. | ISO 45001 cl.7.5.3 | Separate the manager-facing outcome from the clinical file; audit access to each. |
| A positive or progressing finding not linked back to an exposure reassessment. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.1 | Make the exposure reassessment trigger a required field on any progressing case. |
| A diagnosed case of hand-arm vibration syndrome not reported to the regulator. | RIDDOR 2013, Sch.1 | Route any tier four diagnosis through the reportable disease process before closure. |
| Next surveillance date set without regard to tier or severity, defaulting to a standard annual interval. | Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, reg.7 | Set the review interval from the current tier and staging, not a single default. |
Case in point
Case in point: the tier one questionnaire that never left the file
A worker in a vibration-exposed role completed a tier one questionnaire each year for three years running, each time reporting tingling that cleared by the following morning. Each record was marked complete and closed with a note to repeat at the next annual interval. No referral was raised in any of the three years, because the workflow did not force one and the assessor treated a mild, resolving symptom as within normal limits.
In the fourth year the worker presented with persistent numbness and reduced grip that did not resolve overnight. Tier three staged the condition as established, with a sensorineural component that is not reversible. The file showed the same early symptom recorded three times before it progressed, with nothing connecting one year's questionnaire to the next beyond a filing cabinet. The fix was not a better questionnaire; it was making a positive tier one answer force an escalation decision rather than leave it to whoever read the form that year.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
5 sections
- Reference
- HLT-043
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- VHS-2026-000
- Scoring
- Cases detected
- Direction
- Low is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 45001 cl.8.1
- Links
- Links HAV assessment, Restrictions
- Tags
- Vibration, Surveillance
- Sections
- 5
- Fields
- 47
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 5
Header
15 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format VHS-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Worker*
Person ID*
Format PER-0000.
Links to FDN-003 Person ID
Surveillance Tier*
Assessed By*
Previous Assessment Date
Exposure Assessment ID
Links to HLT-041 Assessment ID
Years Exposed*
Currently Exposed*
Early Symptoms Reverse, Late Ones Do Not
Tingling that stops overnight is recoverable. Numbness that persists is permanent nerve damage. The whole point of tiered surveillance is catching the first before it becomes the second.
Symptoms reported
6 fieldsTingling In Fingers*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Numbness In Fingers*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Blanching Of Fingers*
- None3 pts
- Occasional1 pt
- Frequent0 pts
Reduced Grip Strength*
- None3 pts
- Some1 pt
- Marked0 pts
Symptoms Persist Away From Work*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Symptoms Worse In Cold*
- No symptoms3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Assessment
6 fieldsQuestionnaire Completed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Referred To Qualified Person Where Indicated*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Clinical Assessment Carried Out*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Staging Applied*
- Stage 0, no symptoms4 pts
- Stage 12 pts
- Stage 21 pt
- Stage 30 pts
Compared With Previous Assessment*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Progression Since Last Assessment*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Confidentiality
6 fieldsClinical Detail Held By Occupational Health Only*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Manager Told Fitness And Restrictions Only*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Worker Consent Obtained*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Worker Given Their Own Result*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Records Retained For Required Period*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Access To Records Restricted*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Outcome
14 fieldsOutcome*
- No abnormality4 pts
- Early symptoms1 pt
- Established condition0 pts
- Referred for diagnosis1 pt
Restriction Recommended*
- None3 pts
- Temporary1 pt
- Permanent0 pts
Restriction Record ID
Links to HLT-017 Record ID
Reportable To Regulator*
- No3 pts
- Yes0 pts
Exposure Reassessment Triggered*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Next Surveillance Due*
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Occupational Health*
Signature*
Safety Lead*
Second Signature*
HLT-043 · record IDs look like VHS-2026-000 · Links HAV assessment, Restrictions
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
Running the schedule is the easy part. What slips is the escalation between tiers and the link back to the exposure the finding came from.
Holds the surveillance record against the worker's history, forces the referral decision on a positive finding, and keeps the confidentiality boundary between clinical detail and fitness outcome.
Links a progressing surveillance finding back to the Hand-Arm Vibration Assessment and the exposure controls it depends on.
Watches for a positive or progressing finding that has not triggered an exposure reassessment, and raises it rather than waiting for the next scheduled review.
This template lives in KnowHealth — employee wellbeing. Exposure monitoring, health surveillance, case management and return to work.
Meet KnowHealth→Glossary
Vibration Health Surveillance Record definitions and key terms
- HAVS
- Hand-arm vibration syndrome, a condition affecting the nerves, blood vessels, muscles and joints of the hand and arm from regular vibration exposure.
- Tiered surveillance
- A staged pathway from screening questionnaire to clinical assessment and formal diagnosis, with escalation between tiers driven by findings, not a fixed schedule.
- Stockholm Workshop Scale
- A staging system for HAVS grading the vascular and sensorineural components separately, used to track progression over time.
- Sensorineural component
- The nerve-related element of HAVS, presenting as tingling, numbness and reduced sensation, distinct from the vascular component's blanching.
- Exposure action value
- The daily vibration exposure level at which health surveillance and other controls become required, set below the exposure limit value.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about vibration health surveillance record
How often should vibration health surveillance be carried out?+
At the interval set by the surveillance plan, reflecting the worker's tier and any previous findings rather than a single organisation-wide default. A clean history at tier one can reasonably sit on an annual cycle; a progressing finding needs a shorter interval regardless of the standard cycle.
Who can carry out each tier of surveillance?+
Tier one and two by a trained responsible person or occupational health nurse. Tier three needs a qualified person competent in the staging system. Tier four formal diagnosis needs a physician with specific competence, because it carries reporting consequences.
What should trigger an escalation between tiers?+
Any positive symptom response, any progression against a previous assessment, and any worker request following a symptom change. Waiting for the next scheduled cycle defeats the purpose of tiering.
Who should see the result of a surveillance assessment?+
The worker, in full. The manager, limited to fitness and any restriction. Occupational health, in full, as owner. Passing clinical detail to a manager is a confidentiality failure and, in most jurisdictions, a data protection breach too.
Does a positive finding mean the worker has to stop the exposed work?+
Not automatically. A restriction decision follows, temporary, permanent or none, depending on staging and judgement. It should always trigger exposure reassessment, since a positive finding is evidence about the controls, not only the individual.
Is a hand-arm vibration syndrome diagnosis reportable?+
In the UK, yes, under RIDDOR once a qualified practitioner has diagnosed it. Elsewhere, without an equivalent duty, it should still trigger internal exposure reassessment.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Occupational Health Surveillance
Similar Exposure Group Register
Groups workers who share the same tasks, agents and exposure patterns
Qualitative Exposure Assessment
Rates likely exposure using professional judgement, task knowledge and existing data, before any sampling
Personal Air Sampling Record
Records a sample taken from a worker's breathing zone over a shift
Area Monitoring Record
Records fixed point sampling in a work area rather than on a person
Noise Dosimetry Record
Records a worker's noise exposure over a full shift using a personal dosimeter
Chemical Exposure Assessment
Assesses exposure to a specific chemical across the tasks where it is used
More in Vibration
Hand Arm Vibration Assessment
Assesses exposure to vibrating tools against daily exposure action and limit values
Whole Body Vibration Assessment
Assesses vibration exposure from driving forklifts, trucks and mobile plant, including seat condition and surface quality
Tool Vibration Register
Holds the vibration magnitude and trigger time limits for every vibrating tool in use
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 7 (UK)
- HSE guidance on HAVS and the Stockholm Workshop Scale
- ISO 45001:2018 clauses 8.1.1, 9.1.1 and 7.5.3
- RIDDOR 2013, Schedule 1, reportable diseases (UK)
- ISO 5349-1, measurement of human exposure to hand-transmitted vibration
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.