About the conference

From 21 to 24 June 2027, the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton will host the 16th International Conference on Hand-Arm Vibration.

Held every four years in a different country, under the patronage of the International Advisory Committee on Hand-Arm Vibration, the conference brings together everyone with a stake in the field: researchers, occupational physicians, health and safety professionals, standards bodies, regulators, and the designers and manufacturers of powered tools and machinery.

Many powered and hand-guided tools expose their operators to vibration. As well as affecting comfort and performance, this exposure can cause lasting harm to the hands and arms, so preventing it must be a priority.

As work becomes more complex, combined exposures matter more and more. How does hand-arm vibration interact with noise, whole-body vibration or hand-transmitted shock? How can medicine, diagnostics, epidemiology, measurement and engineering help identify, control and ultimately eliminate the risks? And what role should international standards and regulation play?

The 16th conference will tackle these and many other questions, and aims to produce answers that matter in practice.