Hand-arm vibration comes from the use of hand-held
power tools and is the cause of significant ill health (painful and disabling disorders of the blood vessels, nerves and joints).
HAVS is preventable, but once the
damage is done it is permanent.HAVS is serious
and disabling, and nearly 2 million people are at risk.Damage
from HAVS can include the inability to do fine work and cold can trigger painful finger blanching attacks.
You must provide health surveillance for all your employees who, despite your action to control the
risk, are likely to be regularly exposed above the Exposure Action Value or are considered to be at risk for any other reason.
The purpose of health surveillance is to:
- Identify
anyone exposed or about to be exposed to hand-arm vibration who may be at particular risk, for example people with blood circulatory
diseases such as Raynaud’s Disease;
- Identify
any vibration-related disease at an early stage in employees regularly exposed to hand-arm vibration;
- Help you prevent disease progression and eventual disability;
- Help people stay in work;
- Check the effectiveness of your vibration control measures.
You should consult with your trade union safety representative, or employee representative, and
the employees concerned before introducing health surveillance. It is important that your employees understand that the aim
of health surveillance is to protect them from developing advanced symptoms of ill health so that they can continue to work.
You will need their understanding and co-operation if health surveillance is to be effective.
How can I arrange
health surveillance?
Basic health surveillance
consists of regularly seeking information about early symptoms of ill health by using a questionnaire. It may help you keep
costs down if you carry out this function yourself, referring any positive responses to an occupational health service provider.
Alternatively, you could ask an occupational health service provider
to provide a complete service on your behalf. You should be able to find details of occupational health service providers
from your trade association, your local telephone directory, the internet or your nearest HSE office.
What should
I expect from an occupational health service provider?
A
suitable occupational health service provider will have training and experience in health surveillance for hand-arm vibration.
They should be able to:
- Advise you on a suitable health surveillance programme for your employees;
- Set up the programme;
- Provide
the necessary training and supervision for your staff if they are going to help with the basic health surveillance;
- Provide suitably qualified and experienced staff to carry out the
higher level health surveillance;
- Provide
you with reports on your employees' fitness to continue work with vibration exposure.
What do I have
to do with the results of health surveillance?
You
will need to:
- Keep records of the health
surveillance and fitness for work advice provided for each employee (but not the confidential medical records which are kept
by the doctor). Your health and safety inspector is entitled to ask to see the health records as part of their checks that
you are complying with these Regulations;
- Make
employees’ records available to them;
- Act
upon any recommendations made by the doctor about employees’ continued exposure to vibration;
- Use the results to review and, if necessary, revise your risk assessment, including your plans to
control risks;
- Discuss any changes to your
risk assessment with your trade union safety representative or employee representative;
- Notify the relevant enforcing authority when advised in writing by a doctor that an employee in listed
occupations has HAVS or carpal tunnel syndrome, as required by the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). For more information on RIDDOR see HSE's leaflet HSE31.
