A Hampshire engineering firm has been fined £10,500 for failing to protect a worker from exposure to vibration in the workplace.
Aldershot Magistrates’ Court heard how, Bill Leonard — a deburrer/auxiliary worker at Tews Engineering Ltd — was exposed to vibration from March 2003 to March 2006. Deburring involves smoothing rough edges; in this case, Leonard’s job was to remove surplus metal from a thick metal profile using a hand-held grinder.
In May 2005, just after he began complaining of pains in his hands and difficulty in gripping the grinder, his job title was changed to deburrer/sawyer, but his daily tasks remined largely unchanged.
After he was diagnosed with Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) and realised the gravity of his problems, Leonard complained to the HSE about having to use vibrating tools excessively at the profiles department at Tew’s premises in Petersfield.
Ray Kelly, the HSE inspector who investigated and prosecuted the case, told SHP that the problem had been building up over a period of three years: “During the first two years of his employment, there was no assessment of the risks Leonard was exposed to at all, but most of the damage was done during this time. It should have been done before he started work, not two years in.”
Kelly went on to say that a general vibration risk assessment for the department did not go far enough in assessing how much vibration Leonard was being exposed to, and for how long. The firm introduced some very simple control measures, such as anti-vibration gloves and changing his grinding wheel to a flap wheel, made from softer material, but the damage had already been done.
“The company could even have installed a machine that would have solved the problem, but neglected to install it for a further 13 months,” added the inspector.
Leonard is unlikely to work again, as he has irrevocably lost the strength of his grip, as well as his dexterity. He has periods of complete numbness and permanently painful hands.
On 6 August, Tews Engineering pleaded guilty to contravening s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 by failing to protect the health of employees; and reg.3(1) of The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 for failing to carry out a proper risk assessment.
The company was fined £8500 for the first offence and £2000 for the second, plus half costs of £10,500, at Aldershot Magistrates Court on 6 August. It produced projected accounts showing it was likely to make a £160,000 loss, so the fine and costs handed out by the magistrates were relatively low.
Tews said it took both health and safety and this incident seriously. It had tried to take some measures to guard against HAVS and acknowledged these had not been sufficient.
Concluded inspector Kelly: “Employers should take heed that when the HSE finds evidence of flagrant breaches of health and safeyt law, particularly where there is a history of previous warnings and advice, as was the case here, we will not hesitate to prosecute.”
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its the duty of the firm to take care of the health of the employees…and even employees should feel free to complaint