Between 2009 and 2014, five employees of Places for People Homes Limited used vibrating powered tools to carry out grounds maintenance tasks at sites in Milton Keynes, Rotherham and Hull.
The HSE investigation found the company had failed to:
Places for People Homes Limited of Cheapside, London pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was fined £600,000 with costs of £13,995.06.
After the hearing, HSE Inspector Andrew McGill said: “Companies must manage the risks associated with vibrating tools. Hand arm vibration can be a significant health risk wherever powered hand tools are used for significant lengths of time.
“HAVS is preventable, but once the damage is done it is permanent. Damage from HAVS can include the inability to do fine work and cold can trigger painful finger blanching attacks. Health surveillance is vital to detect and respond to early signs of damage.”
Watch: The most read fines and prosecutions in October 2019…
Was that 58% of their equipment operators as, for sure 58% of DSE operators would welcome having a risk assessment and something, anything to mitigate their presenteeism prior to suffering more debilitating repetitive stress injuries as, the majority of operators also “carry-on regardless” self-harming with eye-strain, CVS or Screen Fatigue until the blurred or worse double vision, eye and headache, dizziness, nausea disables them completely from carrying-on regardless if the WRULD’s & MSD’s don’t get them first.