Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome: £120,000 fine
Health and Safety Executive v Newfield Fabrications Co Ltd (2017) Manchester and Salford magistrates’ court, July 11
Statutory reference: regulations 6 and 8 of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (CVWR).
Newfield Fabrications Co Ltd, an engineering company, has been fined for failing to control the risk to employees using hand held power tools from HAVS (Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome).
The facts
An HSE investigation discovered that during 2015 a welder who had been working for Newfield for a number of years had been told to work on a job which involved a significant amount of grinding and polishing.
The worker began to experience numbness and tingling in his hand. he asked to change with another worker but was told to carry on.
Some weeks later another welder suffered similar symptoms from using similar tools.
The company had failed to ensure that risks to its employees from exposure were adequately controlled. It had also failed to ensure that employees were given sufficient information, instruction and training on the effects of working with vibrating hand tools.
The decision
The company was fined £120,000 plus £7200 under regulations 6 and 8 of CVWR>