A round robin test for the hand-transmitted vibration from an olive harvester

• Field and laboratory measurements on HAV produced by hand held olive harvesters.
• Round Robin Test on reproducibility among laboratories of HAV measurements of hand held olive harvesters.
• Very good overall agreement between laboratory and field data.

In this paper we present the outcome of a Round Robin test carried out to validate a proposed standard procedure to measure the acceleration produced by an hand held olive harvester. Ten independent laboratories using a custom-built device were involved. The device was developed to simulate olive tree branches as far as their interaction with the harvester sticks is concerned.Collected data were analysed according to the ISO 5725-2 procedure. Accelerations measured in three of the ten laboratories were found by a cluster analysis to be statistically different from those of the remaining seven laboratories. Based on this evidence, results from the three stray laboratories were eliminated from the final sample.Laboratory data were shown to be statistically consistent with field data in the dominant front and rear X axes as well as in the rear Z axis. No statistically significant discrepancy were found for the front and the rear acceleration vector sums, which are the quantities used to quantify the occupational exposure. The procedure developed in this Round Robin test could represent a viable basis for a future test standard for hand-held olive harvesters.Relevance to industryOlive beaters are devices characterized by high vibration levels transmitted to the hand-arm system. Because of the lack of a harmonized C standard, manufacturers struggle to report reliable acceleration values in the instruction manuals, as requested by the 2006/42/EC Directive. This work could help EN working groups to draft a C standard for the measurement of vibration of hand-held olive beaters.