Wrexham County Council has been fined £150,000 after one of their employees, a road worker, was diagnosed with Vibration White Finger (VWF), also known as Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), in September 2015.
An investigation carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the Council had failed to address concerns regarding HAVS. The issue was raised in a 2011 audit which identified a failure to assess the risk of vibration-related diseases to employees working in high risk jobs.
Policies developed by the Council in 2004 tried to address the health and safety concerns of HAVS, however it was found that the Council had not implemented the policies.
It has also been reported that since the HAVS occupational health surveillance for users of vibrating tools was introduced, eleven more council employees have been diagnosed with HAVS or carpal tunnel syndrome.
A HSE inspector said following the hearing;
This employee now suffers from a long term, life changing illness. The council should have implemented the policy they devised following the audit in 2011.
Workers’ health should not be made worse by the work they do; all employees have the right to go home healthy at the end of the working day.
Wrexham County Council is not the first Council to be fined for a failure to protect their employees from HAVS. Last year, Thanet Council were fined £250,000 following a breach of health and safety rules resulting in dozens of workers being diagnosed with vibration white finger.
