Firm fined £200,000 after employees found suffering from hand-arm vibration syndrome

A South Yorkshire manufacturing company has been fined £200,000 following reports that two of its employees had been diagnosed with hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). The HSE investigation found there was no hand-arm vibration risk assessment in place prior to, and at the time of the workers’ diagnoses, to identify what level of vibration the operators were exposed to. There were also no control measures in place to reduce exposure levels, with measures only being implemented following HSE’s intervention.  Health surveillance had not carried out annually and there was no initial health surveillance assessment for new operators. Additionally, referrals were not carried out in a timely manner for those employees displaying symptoms of HAVS.