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Multidisciplinary research by the University of Southampton has been pivotal to tackling the problem of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome, HAVS, a major compensated industrial disease with more than 1.2 million workers at foreseeable risk in the UK and many millions with symptoms around the globe. Work by the Human Factors Research Unit, part of the University's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, has had a major impact on understanding and controlling the disorder, shaping guidance that is used in national and international standards, governmental legislation, law courts and compensation schemes both nationally and internationally. The advances arising from the Southampton research are recognised by policymakers, industry, and peer groups.
Since 1995, Loughborough's research into vibro-impact systems (VIS) has made handheld breaker tools safer for operators and has also increased machining efficiency. Users have been prone to detrimental `hand arm vibration' effects of multiple impacts, including the debilitating condition `white finger'. JCB applied the research findings in its HM25LV breaker design, introduced in 2008, which despite being more powerful exhibits half the hand arm vibration of competitors. JCB has sold more than 1,800 units in the UK and abroad.
Projects spanning two decades have examined information behaviour and its effects in a number of contexts, impacting on a wide range of settings such as the political sphere and business management. This case focuses on recent impact in the energy sector, including impact on: design and delivery of information management software; international health and safety in the oil and gas sector, skills and technological competency management practice, policies and standards; professional and organisational strategies for adaption and enhancement of approaches to operating in multiple diverse geographic regions; and continuing personal and professional development for oil and gas practitioners, influencing methods, approaches and behaviours with regard to health, safety and competence.