Work accidents can come in all shapes and sizes – you may have fallen from a height, suffered a laceration on your finger due to a lack of protective gloves, or simply tripped in an area where there were no warning signs notifying you of a hazard.
The focus of this blog however is on a certain type of industrial disease known as Vibration White Finger also known as Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome due to the increased awareness of the variety of symptoms a sufferer can experience.
A sufferer may not just get the ‘white finger‘ so to speak, they may also suffer from cold sensations and/or tingling in the fingers, numbness in the fingers, or even a general aching feeling extending throughout the fingers and hands and further up the arms. In more extreme cases sufferers have reported a complete loss of feeling in their finger(s) which may extend up the hand and further up the arm. It’s important to note that different people will experience different symptoms with an increased or decreased severity.
Vibration White Finger is experienced by many workers whose job involves working with vibrating machinery.
A noteworthy news item from a couple of years ago that still retains its relevance today is one where a council worker from Cardiff successfully sued the Council for £3,000. His job title was groundsman and this involved him using a Strimmer for the majority of his shifts from which he was only given a total of 40 minutes break per day. This Strimmer weighed 28-30lb and had a vibrating action. As a result, the gentleman suffered from Vibration White Finger with ongoing pain and numbness in his fingers.
Employers have a duty to protect you from risks to your health and safety
The above vibration white finger compensation case shows how the council could have provided anti-vibration gloves – a type of personal protective equipment – or could have given him more breaks or a more diverse workload which meant he was not exposed to vibrations for such lengthy amounts of time each day.
Many of the procedures which employers must take in to account in these situations are contained in The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. These regulations need not be the topic of this blog – but it’s suffice to say that employers with employees using such vibrating machinery at length should take heed of it.
At The Injury Lawyers we understand that claiming against your employer can be a mentally challenging task – but we are here to act on your behalf and will explain each step thoroughly.
If you have any queries about a potential claim of any kind, call our claims team free from a landline or mobile on 0800 634 7575. We will talk you through your claim and, if accepted, make sure that you receive the most compensation possible to give you peace of mind and help ease any financial worries you might have suffered as a result of your injury.