A Merthyr Tydfil based manufacturer has been fined after
twenty-one employees were left permanently injured after being diagnosed with
hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
In 2011 Linde Heavy Truck
Division Ltd appointed a new health and safety manager who recognised the need
to put measures in place to manage HAVS, including health surveillance. These
measures had not been in place before.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court
heard how the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigation showed there
had been no recognition of the risks from hand-arm vibration and no effective
management of these risks over many years.
A total of 21 employees were
diagnosed with HAVS and this was reported to HSE under RIDDOR. The employees
that are affected by HAVS suffer symptoms such as tingling, pins and needles,
numbness and pain in their hands. This affects sleep when it occurs at night
and they have difficulties in gripping and holding things, particularly small
items such as screws, doing up buttons, writing and driving. The biggest impact
on the employees’ lives was that the factory closed down at the end of 2013 and
they were made redundant.
The duties of employers
regarding hand-arm vibration have been very clearly set out for many years, yet
the company failed to implement the necessary measures until the risks had been
identified by their new H&S manager.
HSE Inspector Helen Turner
said: “The employees were exposed to the risk of hand arm vibration on a daily
basis yet Linde Heavy Truck Division failed to recognise this. There was no
health surveillance to identify employees who might already have some vibration
damage even though they employed ex-miners and experienced fitters, or to pick
up whether someone was suffering symptoms before they became serious. From
2000, when the factory opened, until its closure in 2013 there was never a
fully compliant management system for hand arm vibration and 21 employees have
suffered life changing injuries as a result.”
Linde Heavy Truck Division Ltd
pleaded guilty of breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc
Act 1974 and was fined £50,000 and was ordered to pay £14,793.60 in costs.
Four employees gave accounts of
their conditions and future prospects:
Employee 1:
“I suffer with depression. I
have tingling in both hands and it feels like they are swollen. When I’m
driving I can feel the tightness and sometimes I have to pull over. The cold
can affect my hands and I find it difficult to write. When I was at Linde I was
a skilled worker on good money. I have to declare my condition to future
employers; I think my condition has hindered my chances of future work.”
Employee 2:
“I have constant tingling in
both hands, it’s like pins and needles. When it’s really cold my hands go
purple and claw like. I have not worked with any vibrating tools since I
finished at Linde. I thought, naively, that my condition would get better, not
worse.”
Employee 3:
“I don’t suffer during the day
but I wake at night with my hands in a locked position. They are painful and
tingling and I have to open and closed them until the feeling comes back. I
find it difficult picking up small items such as nuts and bolts and I find it
difficult to do up buttons on shirts. I really liked the type of work I used to
do but now my work is not regular and I worry about the future.”
Employee 4:
“I suffer from pins and needles
and numbness in both hands all the time. When I go to pick things up I really
struggle and have to really concentrate as I can’t really feel anything in the
tips of my fingers. I used to ride a motorbike but I had to give this up
because of the pain in my hands and I felt it was not safe to drive.”
CRS says that hand-arm
vibration is a widespread hazard for employees in many industries and occupations.
It can arise from the use of hand held power tools such as grinders and hammer
drills, hand guided machinery such as lawnmowers and plate compactors and hand
fed machines such as pedestal grinders. Prolonged and regular exposure to his
vibration can cause irreversible damage to the nerves, blood vessels, soft
tissues and bones in the hands. However the risk can be controlled and managed
so that employees are protected from ill health.
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