Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS)

Why does it matter?

As an employer, you have a legal duty to protect your employees from health risks due to exposure to hand-arm vibration. You need to assess and reduce the risks as much as possible.

Regulation 7 of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 requires employers to provide suitable health surveillance where the risk assessment indicates a risk to workers’ health. In any case, workers likely to be exposed in excess of the daily exposure action value of 2.5 m/s2 A(8) should be under suitable health surveillance.

Who should health surveillance should be instituted for?

• employees who are likely to be regularly exposed above the exposure action value;

• employees likely to be occasionally exposed above the exposure action value where the risk assessment identifies that the frequency and severity of exposure may pose a risk to health; and

• employees who have a diagnosis of HAVS (even when exposed below the exposure action value).

Depending on the level of risk, you may need to take simple and low-cost actions or more complex and costly ones. You should follow a prioritised action plan to control exposure to hand-arm vibration.

How else can you comply with legislation?

• control measures to lower vibration effectively

• give your employees information, training and health surveillance

• check and update your actions if anything changes that may affect vibration exposure at work.

How can PEMS Health help?

We appreciate that surveillance can be a complex and time-consuming area and so we try to make it as simple as possible! We do this by:

• Providing online forms for employers to use with their employees which minimises paperwork and eliminates concerns about confidential medical information

• Providing reports in a timely fashion

• Escalating through the appropriate Tiers (1 to 5) where appropriate

• Offering a service overseen and provided by our own Faculty of Occupational Medicine accredited HAVS specialist

• Understanding whether vibration may have contributed to a diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or not

• Offer advice on diagnosis and reporting under RIDDOR

• We have a vast knowledge and experience of all sectors of business including manufacturing, fabrication, civil engineering, construction, vehicle dealerships and accident repair centres.

What is hand-arm vibration?

Hand-arm vibration is vibration that goes into workers’ hands and arms from work processes. It can happen when using hand-held power tools, such as road breakers, or hand-guided equipment, such as powered lawnmowers, or when holding materials that are processed by machines, such as pedestal grinders.

Hand-arm vibration can cause permanent health problems if workers are exposed to it regularly and frequently. This is more likely when using a vibrating tool or work process is a normal part of a worker’s job. Occasional exposure is not likely to harm health.

What are the symptoms generally reported by your employees?

It is important to spot signs and symptoms early. This will help you, as the employer, to take steps to prevent the health problems from getting worse for your employee. The symptoms can include any of these:

• fingers feeling tingling or numb

• not being able to feel things well

• hands losing strength

• fingers turning white (blanching) and then red and painful when they warm up (especially in cold and wet weather)

Information adapted from Health & Safety Executive website pages: https://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/