'White Finger Act' points the way to hefty claims for UK industry

contractjournal.com Newsletter: 30.06.05

'White Finger Act' points the way to hefty claims for UK industry

Businesses in UK industry - particularly those in construction, forestry, mining and public utilities - could face a surge of new and costly claims following the Control of Vibration at Work Regulation, which becomes law on 6 July, says Vizards Wyeth Solicitors.

Vizards Wyeth believes that the new law, which aims to protect workers from the damage caused by the vibration from mechanical tools, will act as a catalyst to new compensation claims.

Employers could be forced to pay hefty sums to employees for future loss of earnings. As an example of the sums involved, in a relevant case recently eight former employees of Thames Water were awarded £1.2m in compensation for their injuries and loss of earning capacity.

The regulations will implement the European Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive. They impose additional duties on employers to protect staff who may be exposed to the risk of vibration at work, in particular Hand-Arm Vibration (HAV) and Whole Body Vibration (WBV). HAV includes Raynauds Phenomenon which is also known as White Finger Syndrome (its symptoms include finger tip whitening, finger numbness and pins and needles).

The regulations will have special significance for construction and motor body repair organisations, together with any trade using tools such as road drills, power hammers, angle grinders and chainsaws that produce high levels of vibration.

David Wiggs, of Vizards Wyeth, specialises in defending industrial injury cases for businesses and insurers. He says: "White Finger Syndrome is a widespread hazard, with over five million UK workers exposed to hand arm vibration and two million exposed at levels where there are clear risks of developing hand arm vibration.

At present at least 300,000 workers have reported symptoms of hand-arm vibration but this figure is likely to escalate dramatically with the advent of the new law and more cases being profiled by the media.

It's important to stress that the effects of these diseases are cumulative. So if a worker happens to develop White Finger Syndrome then all employers, past and present, who broke the safety regulations are potentially liable."

Wiggs continues: "Claims can have a wide spectrum of values, but if an average figure of £30,000 is taken, which may well be on the low side, then the total compensation that could be due to the 300,000 workers who have already reported hand-arm vibration would be in the region of £9bn, which is in itself a colossal sum. This figure takes no account of legal costs and future claims, which can only serve to add many billions to the outlay of employers and insurers.

The implementation of this Directive is partly seen as an admission that employers haven't necessarily been following a 'good practice' approach towards the control of occupational exposure to vibration. Until now there have been no specific laws but the general provisions of the Health and Safety Work Act 1974 apply and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) issues notes on good practice to prevent and minimise risks.

If employers have been following this advice, implementing the new regulations shouldn't prove too costly. But if no practical measures have previously been undertaken, some resources will be required to comply."

Requirements that were not previously mentioned in the HSE advice but which will now be stipulated in the Regulations are:

• Exposure Action Values - maximum levels of exposure to vibration (in terms of its intensity).
• Exposure Limit Values - the upper limit in time that an employee must be exposed to vibration.

Wiggs concludes: "We urge employers to invest time and resources to ensure they are fully compliant and provide a safer working environment for their staff. These are unpleasant illnesses that can prevent someone not only from working but can also impinge upon their home and recreational life. In many cases the symptoms will be permanent, leading to loss of employment and the need for career changes.

Increasingly employees are becoming more informed about their legal rights so steps now to create a safe workplace will pay dividends in the future through the avoidance of claims."