Vibration exposure control plan template (hand-arm and whole-body)
A complete written plan for protecting workers from hand-arm vibration from tools such as grinders, breakers and chainsaws, and whole-body vibration from heavy equipment and vehicles, in 14 editions: one for each province and territory and one for federally regulated workplaces. It sets daily exposure with a simple points system and covers buying low-vibration tools, keeping warm, seats and haul roads, and health monitoring for vibration white finger. Each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations. Every purchase includes all 14, in English and in French: 28 editable Word files you make your own.
A look inside
Sample pages from the plan, marked and cut short. Your copy has no watermark.
What’s in the plan
1. Purpose, scope and the law
The tools, equipment and work the plan covers, the law that applies in your jurisdiction with pinpoint citations and any vibration limits it sets (section 1.3), and how the plan fits your program.
2. Responsibilities
The employer, the plan administrator, supervisors, everyone who uses vibrating tools or equipment, the committee or representative, contractors, assessors and health providers, and purchasing and rental.
3. Vibration and what it does
How vibration is measured, hand-arm vibration and what it does, whole-body vibration and what it does, who is at higher risk and the signs to watch for, and the sources in your work.
4. Vibration risk assessment
How vibration is assessed, the limits and our action values, the vibration value used for each tool and machine, exposure points and hours, exposure categories, and when you reassess.
5. Vibration controls
Controls chosen in order, from mechanizing the task and buying low-vibration tools to anti-vibration handles, suspension seats, haul roads and limiting trigger time, what they cannot do, and a table of the controls for each task.
6. Safe work procedures
8 procedures: choosing, buying and renting tools and machines, planning the day’s exposure with points, grinders, sanders and impact wrenches, breakers and rotary hammers, chainsaws and brush saws, compactors and concrete vibrators, operating mobile equipment, and maintaining tools, machines and seats.
7. Gloves, clothing and personal protection
What personal protection can and cannot do, anti-vibration gloves, gloves for warmth and grip, warm clothing, and seats, cushions and supports.
8. Keeping warm, rest breaks and health habits
Keeping hands and body warm and dry, rest breaks and spreading the work, after whole-body vibration, and health habits.
9. Measuring vibration and trigger time
Measuring vibration, makers’ values and databases, measuring trigger time, when you measure, labelling tools and machines, and sharing results.
10. Health monitoring
Who takes part, who does it and when, the questionnaire, assessment and referral, what is done when harm is found, and confidentiality.
11. Education and training
Who is trained and when, what the training covers, supervisors, purchasers and the plan administrator, refreshers, and records.
12. Symptoms, jolts and other vibration incidents
When someone reports symptoms, an attack of white finger at work, jolts and shocks, control failures and overexposure, and reporting and investigation.
13. Records, communication, consultation and review
The records you keep, sharing the plan, consulting your committee or representative, and reviewing the plan.
Appendix A. Regulatory cross-reference
Every provision of your jurisdiction’s law the plan is written to meet, in plain words, with the section that meets it and whether an inspector will also want your records. Each entry links to its section.
Appendix B. Forms
8 print-ready forms, each with a form code: the tool and equipment vibration inventory, the task risk assessment, the daily exposure points calculator, the seat and vehicle check, the health monitoring tracker, the training record, the symptom and incident report and the plan review record.
One plan, 14 editions
Each plan is written once and fitted to the law of each of Canada’s 14 jurisdictions: the ten provinces, the three territories and federally regulated workplaces under the Canada Labour Code. Each edition takes the name its law gives the document, and its own limits, terms and citations.
Every purchase includes all 14, each in English and in French: 28 Word files. The French editions follow the English section for section and form for form, and their cross-reference matches row for row. Laws published only in English keep their English titles.
Written to the law where you work
Section 1.3 of each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations: what that law calls the plan and whether it requires one, any hand-arm or whole-body vibration limits it sets or adopts, and what the law adds, such as musculoskeletal injury rules, labelling, seats, chain saw requirements or reporting. Appendix A lists every provision the plan is written to meet, in plain words, with the section that meets it and whether an inspector will also want to see your records. Each entry links to its section.
Every legal reference was checked against the official texts between September 30 and October 4, 2026, and each edition lists its sources and the date each was checked. A template can’t make you compliant on its own, and we don’t claim it does: the plan works once a qualified person adapts it to your work.
Who it is for
Employers whose workers use vibrating hand tools or operate vehicles and heavy equipment: construction and demolition, road work, mining and quarrying, forestry, foundries and manufacturing, landscaping, trucking and bus operators, and agriculture.
You tick the tools and equipment you use in section 1.2 and delete the procedures you never need. A Tailor note shows how to add a procedure for a task that isn’t there, under the same headings.
Lifetime updates
When the law changes, we publish a new edition and email everyone who bought the template. Every update is free, for as long as we publish it.
Version 1.1 October 4, 2026
- Quebec: the plan now says that the prevention program identifies and analyzes the risks, and that the action plan, where there are fewer than 20 workers, identifies them.
Version 1.0 October 5, 2026
- First edition, in 14 jurisdiction editions (one for each province and territory, and one for federally regulated workplaces), each in English and French.
- Every legal reference checked against the official texts between September 30 and October 4, 2026. Each edition lists its sources and the date each was checked.
More exposure control plans
Buy templates together and save on the whole order: 2 for 10% off, 3 for 15% off, 4+ for 20% off.
Questions
Which edition do I use?
The one for the law that covers the workplace: the province or territory where the work is done, or the federal edition if your business is federally regulated under Part II of the Canada Labour Code (for example, interprovincial trucking, airlines, railways, banks and telecommunications). If you are not sure which law covers you, confirm it with your regulator before you rely on an edition. All 14 come with every purchase, in English and French, so you never pay twice for the right one.
Is this legal advice? Will it make us compliant?
No. It is a template, not legal advice: a complete plan written to the law with every requirement cited, as a starting point. The plan only works once a qualified person adapts it to your work (your tasks, your materials and the exposure your own assessment finds) and you put it in place and follow it, so no template can promise compliance. If you want help with that, our team does it too.
Does it cover my province’s own rules?
Yes. Section 1.3 of each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations: what that law calls this document, the exposure limit, and what the law adds to the plan, such as monitoring, health checks, notices, records or training. Where the law changes something in the plan’s general text, section 1.3 says what and where. Appendix A then lists every provision the plan is written to meet, with the section of the plan that meets it.
What if we work in more than one province?
Use the edition for each place you work: every purchase includes all 14. Each edition is complete on its own, and they share the same sections and form codes, so crews moving between provinces work to the same plan and only what the law changes is different.
What format is it in, and can I edit it?
Editable Microsoft Word (.docx) files on US Letter pages: 28 of them, one for each of the 14 jurisdictions in English and in French. Type your company name once and desktop Word puts it on the cover, in every header and through the text. Shaded “Tailor” notes say what to check or change in each section, and highlighted placeholders mark every name, date and place you fill in. The files also open in Google Docs and Word on the web, where you use Find and replace to put your company name in.
What happens when the law changes?
We update the plan, and you get every update free for as long as we publish it: lifetime updates at no extra charge, for all 14 editions in both languages. We email you when a new edition is ready, with what changed and a link to download it.
Can I use it for more than one company?
Each purchase is licensed to one company. Consultants setting up programs for several clients should contact us.
Want it built for you?
Our safety advisors assess the hazards in your work and help you tailor the plan to it, from the risk assessment to the procedures your crews follow and the controls behind them.
Hazard assessments and control