Ergonomic injuries, including work-related musculoskeletal disorders are, unfortunately, common in the construction industry. These disorders are often the result of repeated exposure to vibration. Harm from vibration, for which there is no OSHA standard, depends on intensity, frequency, and length of exposure. While excessive sound vibrations can injure the ears through noise, other vibrations affect the entire body. Whole-body vibration can bring symptoms like back pain or shakiness, experienced after a long car or boat trip, driving a semi, or standing near a printing press.

Skilled trades workers suffer localized Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), when vibrations gradually cause permanent changes in tendons, muscles, bones, and joints. A well-known disorder from HAVS is “Vibration-Induced White Finger,” or “Raynaud’s disease,” which causes fingers and toes to feel numb and cold in response to temperatures or stress. In Raynaud’s disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to the skin become narrow, limiting blood flow to affected areas.  

HAVS can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome, tingling, loss of sensation in the fingers, loss of light touch, bone cysts in fingers and wrists, pain, and cold sensations in-between attacks. Medication and surgery are sometimes required. In the most severe cases, gangrene can occur.  

AVOIDING INJURIES  

The good news is that injuries from noise and vibration, while permanent and progressive, are also preventable. To prevent vibration injury, experts recommend workers operate tools with lower handle vibration, ultimately reducing the hours of exposure. 

Cordless technology eliminates the power cords common to AC-powered light equipment that are frequent culprits of vibration, such as 60-90 lb breakers. 

The MX FUEL™ Breaker, the world’s first cordless breaker, separates the head of the unit from the striking mechanism, further separating the user from the point of impact. Since workers feel less vibration, they can use the Breaker for longer periods of demolition, adding productivity. With 50 ft/lbs of Impact Energy and 4.9M/s2 measured vibration, the MX FUEL™ Breaker is up to 30% harder hitting and generates 70% lower vibration than corded. At 63.9 lbs, it is also the lightest breaker in its class and features an ergonomic front handle making it easier to maneuver and transport throughout the jobsite.

Using one XC battery, the Breaker delivers a 40-foot trench 1 foot wide and 6 inches deep, plus two sidewalk slabs that measure 5 feet by 4 feet by 6 inches deep. 

MX FUEL™ EQUIPMENT SYSTEM

The MX FUEL™ Equipment System is the output of years of tireless research and investment in new technology, ground-up development of new batteries, motors, and electronics—all simultaneously created under one roof. Designed to take on the very same gas equipment that users have depended on for years, this system eliminates the emissions, and reduces the overall noise, vibration, and frustrations of gas maintenance that have been deemed acceptable on jobsites for decades—and additionally eliminates tripping breakers, voltage drops, and trip hazards.

Much like the company’s M18™ System, which will continue to deliver power tool solutions for contractors, each of the solutions on the MX FUEL™ System are all tied together on a single, compatible platform that will grow with additional solutions over the years to come. 

For more, visit milwaukeetool.com.