A Nottinghamshire aerospace engineering firm has been ordered to pay £190,000 after 24 of its workers were diagnosed with debilitating nerve conditions after being exposed to high levels of vibration for several years at the company’s premises in Annesley.
SPS Aerostructures Ltd was prosecuted at Nottingham Crown Court on 21 July after the workers developed either hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) or carpal tunnel syndrome. Some of the workers had to undergo operations and some had to be removed from the work they were doing. One was given work without any vibration exposure but was later made redundant. A skilled metal sheet worker, he is now unable to work in this field.
HAVS includes symptoms such as blanching and numbness in the fingers, especially in the cold, as well as pins and needles, which can be extremely painful. This is due to damage to the small blood vessels and nerves supplying the hands. Sufferers can have difficulty picking up small objects and performing tasks such as doing up buttons.
Sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome also experience pain and pins and needles, especially at night, and a reduction in grip. An operation is normally needed to release the nerve, although this is less successful if they have been exposed to vibration.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that although HSE was notified of an employee being diagnosed with HAVS in 2010, the issue dated back to 2005 when the company’s health and safety committee asked it to carry out a suitable risk assessment for exposure to vibration, and act on the result.
An investigation showed that:
SPS Aerostructures Ltd, of Willow Drive, Sherwood Business Park, Annesley, was fined a total of £125,000 and ordered to pay £65,805 in costs after admitting two breaches of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Dawn Smith said: “SPS Aerostructures Ltd was, from 2005, regularly being made aware that employees were suffering from vibration-related symptoms. They were being supplied with this information directly from staff and from their occupational health nurse. However, they chose to ignore this information and allowed employees to work unrestricted with high risk tools, or their own tools.
“The company was slow to implement improvements even after HSE’s involvement and had to be issued with an improvement notice in 2011 to ensure compliance.
“Adequate assessment of the risk from vibration, provision of tools with lower vibration levels, and a good system of work would have ensured workers were not over-exposed to vibration. A better health surveillance system would also have identified problems earlier, and symptoms could have been managed to prevent them getting worse.”
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