CSCS Noise & Vibration (HAVS) Questions
Hearing protection and hand-arm vibration syndrome.
Noise & Vibration (HAVS) — practice questions (untimed, instant feedback)
- 10 questions · pass mark 90%
- Untimed practice — you see the correct answer immediately after each question.
- Some questions need more than one answer — these are clearly marked.
All 10 Noise & Vibration (HAVS) questions and answers
These are the same 10 questions as the practice test above, written out with the correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read them through when you want to revise rather than test yourself.
1. You have been using a vibrating tool and your fingertips start to tingle. What does this tell you?
Answer: You should report the symptoms before they develop further
- A) It is fine — grip the tool more firmly and carry on
- B) It is fine — loosen your grip and carry on
- C) You can never use a vibrating tool again
- D) You should report the symptoms before they develop further (correct answer)
Why: Tingling fingertips are an early sign of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) — report it before permanent damage sets in.
2. If you must use a vibrating tool, even briefly, how can you reduce the risk of hand-arm vibration?
Answer: Avoid gripping the tool too tightly
- A) Avoid gripping the tool too tightly (correct answer)
- B) Hold it out at arm's length
- C) Grip it as firmly as you can
- D) Apply extra force
Why: A relaxed grip lets the tool do the work and reduces the vibration passing into your hands.
3. How can you lessen the effects of hand-arm vibration when using a vibrating tool?
Answer: Break the work into short spells
- A) Complete the work in one continuous session
- B) Break the work into short spells (correct answer)
- C) Keep a tight grip throughout
- D) Use only one hand at a time
Why: Working in short spells with breaks limits how long your hands are exposed to vibration.
4. Noise-induced hearing loss usually develops:
Answer: Gradually, over a period of time
- A) Straight away
- B) Never
- C) Only in people who already have ear problems
- D) Gradually, over a period of time (correct answer)
Why: Noise damage builds up gradually and is often unnoticed until it is permanent.
5. What two steps help limit the risk of HAVS when using hand-held tools? (Choose two)
Answers: Exercise your hands during breaks and Ease your grip and let the tool do the work
- A) Exercise your hands during breaks (correct answer)
- B) Ease your grip and let the tool do the work (correct answer)
- C) Rest your hands during breaks
- D) Grip harder to dampen the vibration
Why: Keeping the hands warm and moving and easing your grip both help cut HAVS risk.
6. What is the main purpose of ear defenders on site?
Answer: To reduce exposure to harmful noise
- A) To improve hearing
- B) To block out all sound
- C) To reduce exposure to harmful noise (correct answer)
- D) To help you chat
Why: Ear defenders cut exposure to damaging noise levels.
7. Which tool is most likely to cause hand-arm vibration syndrome if misused?
Answer: A power drill
- A) A hammer
- B) A screwdriver
- C) A power drill (correct answer)
- D) A paintbrush
Why: Vibrating power tools such as drills can cause HAVS with prolonged use.
8. At what daily noise level must hearing protection be provided and worn?
Answer: 85 dB
- A) 70 dB
- B) 80 dB
- C) 85 dB (correct answer)
- D) 90 dB
Why: 85 dB is the upper action value at which hearing protection is required.
9. How often should a worker's hand-arm vibration exposure be considered?
Answer: Daily, as part of managing exposure
- A) Once a year
- B) Monthly
- C) Weekly
- D) Daily, as part of managing exposure (correct answer)
Why: Daily exposure should be managed so trigger-time limits are not exceeded.
10. Which of these does NOT help reduce noise exposure?
Answer: Increasing how long workers are exposed
- A) Using quieter modern equipment
- B) Increasing how long workers are exposed (correct answer)
- C) Fitting barriers or screens
- D) Providing hearing protection
Why: Longer exposure increases risk — the opposite of a control.
What this topic covers in the CSCS test
Noise and vibration both cause damage that builds slowly and cannot be undone. You will not feel your hearing going, and the first signs of hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) are easy to dismiss as cold hands. Two sets of regulations from 2005 set the numbers, and the test expects you to know them and to know what to do when a symptom appears.
- The two noise action values and the exposure limit value
- When hearing protection must be offered, when it must be worn, and how hearing protection zones are signed
- How noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus develop
- The exposure action value and limit value for hand-arm vibration
- Early symptoms of HAVS and your duty to report them
- Cutting exposure: quieter tools, less trigger time, breaks, warm hands, a relaxed grip
- Health surveillance, and why a confirmed case of HAVS is reportable
Key facts worth memorising
- Lower action value: 80 dB(A)
- At 80 dB(A) daily or weekly, or a peak of 135 dB(C), your employer must assess the risk, train you, and provide hearing protection to anyone who asks.
- Upper action value: 85 dB(A)
- At 85 dB(A), or a peak of 137 dB(C), hearing protection must be provided and worn, and hearing protection zones must be marked with signs.
- Exposure limit value: 87 dB(A)
- 87 dB(A), or a peak of 140 dB(C), must not be exceeded, and it is the only one of the three measured taking account of the protection your protectors give.
- The two metre rule of thumb
- HSE says you probably have a noise problem if people must raise their voices to talk about 2 metres apart, or use noisy powered tools for more than half an hour a day.
- HAVS values: 2.5 and 5.0 m/s2 A(8)
- The exposure action value is 2.5 m/s2 A(8), at which controls must be brought in, and the exposure limit value of 5.0 m/s2 A(8) must not be exceeded.
- Early HAVS symptoms
- Tingling and numbness in the fingers, losing the feel of things, weaker grip, and fingers going white then turning red and painful as they recover.
What people get wrong
Ear defenders deal with the noise problem.
Hearing protection is a last resort. Noise must be reduced by other means first, and HSE warns that taking protectors off for even a few minutes in a noisy area considerably lowers the protection you get.
Anti-vibration gloves protect you from HAVS.
HSE says gloves can be used to keep hands warm, which helps circulation, but should not be relied on for protection from vibration. Less trigger time and a lower-vibration tool are what cut exposure.
Tingling fingers after using a breaker are normal and wear off.
That is an early sign of HAVS. Report it. Symptoms usually worsen with continued exposure and may become permanent, and a confirmed case must be reported to the enforcing authority.
85 dB is the legal limit for noise.
85 dB(A) is the upper action value, where protection must be worn. The ceiling is the exposure limit value of 87 dB(A), and there is a lower action value at 80 dB(A).
Answering these questions in the test
Learn 80, 85 and 87 as a sequence: assess and offer protection at 80, enforce it at 85, never exceed 87. Behaviour questions describe a symptom or a task, and the right answer is the one that cuts the exposure or reports the problem, never the one that carries on. Do not let the two halves of the topic blur together. Noise damages hearing and is measured in decibels; vibration damages hands and is controlled by trigger time.
Sources
Written from the following. Where a figure could not be verified against one of these, it has been left out rather than approximated — our sources and methodology explains how we date and re-check them. Spotted something wrong? Report an error and we will fix it.
- hse.gov.uk/noise/regulations.htm
- hse.gov.uk/noise/employers.htm
- hse.gov.uk/noise/advice-overview.htm
- hse.gov.uk/noise/hearingprotection.htm
- legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1643/regulation/4/made
- hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/regulations.htm
- hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/advice-to-employers.htm
- hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/protect.htm
- legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1093/contents/made
Topics that come up alongside noise & vibration (havs)
Ready for the real thing?
When you are scoring 90% or better here, take a timed 50-question mock under exam conditions, then book your CITB HS&E test.