HAVS fines: can you afford not to measure hand-arm vibration?

The use of hand-held vibrating power tools for long periods of time and/or repeated and frequent use can lead to a permanent and painful injury called Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). HAVS includes injuries to the hands affecting blood vessels, nerves and joints such as carpal tunnel syndrome and Vibration White Finger (VWF). Employers who allow this to happen in their workplaces to their workers can face large HAVS fines. Under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 employers must assess and identify measures to eliminate or reduce risks from exposures to harmful vibration, and where required, to provide appropriate training and ongoing health surveillance. If, as an employer, you do not do that then you not only put your employees at risk of a terrible disabling injury, but you also put your business at risk through financial penalties as well as the loss of reputation. The table below highlights recent high profile successful prosecutions of companies of all sizes in the UK totalling over £2 million worth of imposed fines since 2016. In addition, the UK Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) research indicates that it costs a company between £7000 and £36,000 to process every £1000 paid out in compensation claims – this is in addition to the actual amount paid out for the claim and any legal fees incurred. The extent of the HAVS problem In a 1999 study by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) [1] 4.8 million people worldwide were estimated to be at risk, of these around 1.7 million were expected to be exposed above the vibration Exposure Action Value (EAV) of 5 m/s2, and 1 million exposed above the Exposure Limit Value (ELV) 2.5 m/s2. In the UK alone, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that there are 2 million people are at risk of vibration exposure every day. In fact, there are 600-900 cases reported to the HSE under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). Claims for Vibration White Finger (VWF) now represent 9% of all employers’ liability cases, and there were over 400 new Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit cases for it and carpal tunnel syndrome in 2017 [2]. Data for the UK in 2018 shows claims are currently falling which is good news. Some of the first incidences of fines for Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome in the UK workforce which formed the catalyst for changes to European legislation were: £124K award to 7 British Coal Miners: sums ranged from £5k to £41k (1997) £200k award to a tree surgeon employed by Liverpool City Council (1998) £143k award to British Gasfitter: a total of £420k to 6 fitters (1998), and £1.2M from North West Water to 8 former employees (2000).

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