Latest News - Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome
V.J. TECHNOLOGY GETS TO GRIPS WITH HAND-ARM VIBRATION SYNDROME
According to the Health and Safety Executive, around two million workers are at risk from Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). A serious condition, HAVS has come to the fore since the introduction of the Control of Vibration and Work Regulations in 2005. Contractors could face substantial compensation costs if employee vibration exposures are not properly managed.
HAVS is a collection of disorders caused by over-exposure to vibration from hand-held machinery. Of these disorders, Vibration White Finger (VWF) is the most well known, characterised by the whitening of the fingers due to a loss of blood flow. VWF causes numbness, tingling and chronic pain in the fingers and, once beyond the very early stages, it is a permanent and irreversible condition.
Less visible, but often considered more disabling is the damage to the nervous system, joints and bones of affected workers. These disorders, also painful and mostly irreversible, can seriously interfere with a worker’s life, interrupting sleep and preventing simple daily tasks like fastening buttons.
HAVS has been known about since the early 1900s and as power tools became more common the condition became more widespread. In the UK VWF was recognised as an industrial related disease in 1985, and in 1997 the High Court awarded £125,000 to seven coal miners who claimed that their employers should have known the consequences of using the machines. Since this case, over £100 million has been paid out in compensation in HAVS related claims. Given the health and safety implications, as well as the substantial costs, it is important that employers understand, and take seriously, the responsibility of protecting the health of their employees from vibration related injuries.
What are the government and industry doing about HAVS?
The European Union passed the Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive in 2002, which sets out the minimum requirements for assessing and controlling a worker’s exposure to vibration. The UK Government implemented this Directive in the UK in 2005 as the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations. The Regulations re-emphasise the employer’s duty of care to protect the health of their workforce and require the risk from vibration to be assessed and controlled in accordance with specific daily limits.
Given there are some two million workers at risk of developing HAVS in the UK, contractors need to have the confidence that their power tools are being used properly and that appropriate controls are in place.
Leading the industry’s work on managing HAVS is V.J. Technology, supported by the SIG Specialist Construction Products division. V.J. Technology is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of fixings, power tools and power tool consumables and has acted to support its customers by launching the Noise and Vibration Control Group (NVCG) based in Southampton.
The NVCG is led by Dr. Thomas Gunston, one of the UK’s leading experts in the field of HAVS, and Martin O’Boyle, a leading expert in tool testing and vibration analysis. The NVCG was set up in response to customer requests for useful and meaningful advice on HAVS, including assistance with HAVS management programmes, training and relevant, sensibly measured vibration test data.
V.J. Technology has equipped the NVCG with a state-of-the-art test facility and bespoke measurement equipment capable of testing any power tool used on any construction site. Dr. Gunston says: “By combining our measurements and understanding of the many different testing and reporting methods with V.J. Technology’s practical knowledge of how the machines are used on site, we can provide customers with realistic, relevant and simple guidance to help them with their risk management processes.”
“We’re working with the Government Health and Safety Laboratories, key industry working groups, and some of the largest contractors in the UK. Our aim is to provide guidance on the exposures that operators of machines are likely to experience when carrying out their day to day work on our customer’s sites.”
He continues: “The legislation states that where practicable an employee should have an exposure less than the daily Exposure Action Value of 2.5 m/s2 A(8). The manufacturer of a particular machine might report a vibration emission value of 9.5 m/s2, for the machine used with a particular insert for a stated task. The real challenge is presenting all of this in a useful way for someone on a building site. For instance, the easiest way to manage the exposure of a hammer drill operator is to let them know how many holes – including size and depth - they can drill in a typical working day.”
“While it is essential to provide adequate protection, it is also important that we don’t just provide unnecessarily low numbers. Contractors need to be able to deliver on time and within budget and as part of that, we make sure we provide the most realistic and accurate figures possible to allow for an efficient project.”
“The other concern of providing numbers that are too restrictive is that the employees themselves may be unnecessarily restricted, interfering with their ability to work and encouraging them to ‘share’ work across different sites to sidestep risk management processes. This is not the purpose of the Regulations at all.”
It is not just contractors that are reviewing their practices. V.J. Technology has seen improvement in the tools coming from manufactures. “Often, exposure to vibration can be reduced if a tool and a consumable can do a job faster. This means that HAVS has brought health and safety and efficiency even closer together”, says Tom. “The result has been encouraging. For example, recent tests on a Makita Anti-Vibration Technology sabre saw used by one of our customers exposed the operator to much less vibration compared to previous models while cutting just as fast.”
Dr. Gunston believes that a top down approach is likely to occur throughout the industry with major contractors now taking the lead. “At the moment, we are working with some of the biggest players in the industry, providing management advice and training as well as assistance with exposure risk assessment. Once the major contractors have the required vibration control measures in place, these will filter down to smaller companies and sub contractors.” He adds, “V.J. Technology customers should get in touch with their regular technical sales contact if they want any help.”
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome will remain an important issue for the construction industry so long as power tools are widely used. It is simply not sustainable to buy new tools and hope they can minimise vibration. Vibration exposure is a complex issue and is an active area of research at leading institutions in many countries. As knowledge of the causes of injury improves, best practices for high-risk industries, such as construction, will evolve. Anyone who uses a power tool is at risk from HAVS, but this risk can, and legally must, be responsibly managed.
The construction industry is now pioneering effective management of vibration exposures and is in a strong position to demonstrate how it can lead on major health and safety issues without compromising efficiency.