His presentation will cover the background on exposure levels and injuries caused by, or associated with, whole-body vibration and shock exposures on fast boats, relevant UK legislation, key requirements for employers of boat crew, a discussion on vibration dose assessment and the most appropriate methods for assessing WBV exposures on boats and a summary of the current, and rapidly changing, UK and international standard approaches for assessing shock isolating seats intended for use in fast boats.

Dr Gunston will round off his presentation with a discussion on legal claims involving WBV-related injuries of boat crew from his perspective as an expert witness.

Dr Tom Gunston is a specialist consultant on noise and vibration exposure and mitigation and Senior Consultant at Finch Consulting. He has been involved in assessing the shock and vibration isolation performance of seating for military and civil land, sea and air transport for over twenty years.

He is the current Chair of the British Standards Panel concerned with human exposure to whole-body vibration and mechanical shock and has represented the UK, or chaired, on various relevant international standards committees.

He provides evidence as an expert witness on noise and vibration matters, and specialist advice to fast boat operators (including the RNLI) and equipment manufacturers in the UK and elsewhere.”