HAND/ARM VIBRATION
STOP, MAKE A CHANGE
Reactec, specialists in monitoring and management platforms for exposure
to hand and arm vibration, marked the UK’s first Stop, Make a Change initiative in April by launching their Hand Arm
Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) awareness campaign to the industry, Tomorrow’s Health & Safety finds out more.
HAVS, which is also known as Vibration White Finger, is one of the most common industrial diseases in the UK. The condition is usually caused by the prolonged use of power hand tools, whose vibrations can damage the blood vessels, nerves, muscles and joints of the hand, wrist and arm. Around 300,000 people in the UK suffer from the condition and a further 2million are at risk of HAVS, for which there is no known cure, only prevention.
Reactec worked closely with their customers who took part in the Stop, Make a Change initiative, including the Environment Agency, Carillion Rail, Morgan Sindall, Balfour Beatty, A-Plant, Speedy, HSS, and Torrent. Reactec provided hard-hitting posters and presentations for customer safety briefings. The company are also asking HAVS suffers to share their experiences of contracting the disease to raise further awareness of this incurable condition.
“MANY SUFFERERS COMPLAIN OF PAIN, DISTRESS AND SLEEP DISTURBANCE.”
Hand-arm vibration can be caused by operating hand-held power tools, such as road breakers and lawnmowers, or by holding materials being processed by machines, such as pedestal grinders. The most likely industries requiring the regular use of this equipment includes the building and maintenance of roads and railways, construction, estates management, forestry, heavy engineering and shipbuilding.
The effects on people can severely limit the jobs that an affected person is able to do, as well as many family and social activities. Many sufferers complain of pain, distress and sleep disturbance coupled with the inability to carry out fine work including assembling small components or even fastening the buttons on their shirt. HAVS reduces the ability that people have to work in cold or damp conditions, like most outdoor work as this can trigger pain.
Government legislation requires employers to carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessments of their employees exposure to HAV and to reduce the risk to as little as reasonably practicable. The challenge for employers is how to determine if a generic risk assessment is suitable or sufficient and how to be sure that any controls developed to reduce the risk are effective. With the variability that
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...YOU CAN’T TIE YOUR SHOELACES
...YOU CAN’T HOLD A DRINK
...YOU CAN’T HOLD YOUR PARTNER/CHILD
ZZZ
STOP HAVS BEFORE... Stop. Make a Change.
Promoting health & wellbeing in infrastructure
...IT DISTURBS YOUR SLEEP
...IT CAUSES FATIGUE
...IT CREATES ANXIETY & STRESS
Loss of grip is one of the symptoms as well as discomfort and pain from excessive exposure to vibration from power tool usage and a symptom of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). There is no cure for HAVS so prevention is essential. For more information contact your manager.
www.stopmakeachange.co.uk/
Images of Hand Arm Vibration victims
REACTEC
www.reactec.com 0131 221 0920
info@reactec.com INFORM : PROTECT : DEPLOY
is intrinsic in manual tool use, only with highly regular detailed monitoring can an employer be sure of their employee’s level of risk. Reactec’s ground-breaking digital monitoring technology, HAVWEAR, launched a year ago, is the first wearable device of its kind in the UK. With the support of the Reactec analytics reporting software platform, HAVWEAR provides constant real-time personal monitoring with automated reporting to indicate any exposure risk and enable employers to take effective sustainable preventative action. The device, which is synchronised to a tag on each tool, emits an audible alert to indicate action should be taken due to the operator’s exposure to vibration.
Commenting on the initiative, Tracey Gorman, Business Development Director of Reactec said: “Our HAVS campaign is an important one. We are raising awareness of this life-changing condition, which is entirely preventable. HAVS not only affects people physically but it can also be mentally debilitating, which is why it’s an important issue to raise today as anxiety, stress and fatigue are directly-related issues for HAVS sufferers that, if not dealt with, can remain with them for a lifetime. Everyone at Reactec works hard to help our customers promote a workplace culture that creates a safe and with equal importance a healthy environment for their workers and in particular those who use vibrating equipment.”
www.reactec.com www.tomorrowshs.com
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