| Have you worked in the construction industry | | | | Southampton University, VWF became a |
| or forestry? Are you a grounds man, a green | | | | prescribed industrial disease and the Health |
| keeper or professional gardener? Then your | | | | and Safety Executive started to examine |
| profession could triggered Vibration White | | | | measures to reduce the incidence of the |
| Finger (VWF) or Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome | | | | disease. |
| (HAVS). Anyone working with vibrating | | | | |
| hand-held tools over a prolonged period, | | | | By the early 1990's the difference between |
| whether it's a lawnmower or a jackhammer, is | | | | VWF, a mainly vascular complaint, and HAVS, |
| potentially at risk of this painful | | | | which affects both blood vessels and nerves |
| debilitating disease. | | | | of the hand, wrist and arm, was defined. With |
| | | | all this medical evidence to draw on British |
| Vibration White Finger is a secondary form of | | | | Coal was taken to court by seven mine workers |
| Raynaud's Disease, where fine blood vessels | | | | severely affected by the disease as a result |
| in areas like the fingertips, toes, ears and | | | | of prolonged use of chainsaws and drills, the |
| nose go into spasm. VWF is where the small | | | | High Court awarded them £127,000. |
| blood vessels in the fingertips, often | | | | Subsequently the government set up a fund to |
| triggered by contact with the cold, go into | | | | settle any similar claims and because VWF is |
| spasm. The first symptom is a pins and | | | | a recognized disease, workers affected may be |
| needles sensation and loss of dexterity. The | | | | eligible for Industrial Injuries Disablement |
| fingertip turns white as the vessels | | | | Benefit. |
| constrict and they may start to ache, as the | | | | |
| vessels relax the fingertip becomes a dull | | | | In 2002 the European Union passed a Directive |
| red as the blood floods back. | | | | governing the minimum health and safety |
| | | | requirements for workers exposed to |
| If the circumstances don't change, attacks | | | | vibrations. Exposure to vibrating machinery |
| become more frequent and increasingly | | | | is measured as 'trigger time', the amount of |
| painful, affecting more fingers. In severe | | | | time a finger is actually on the 'on button'. |
| cases it leads to skin ulcers or gangrene | | | | The design of the tool, its age and condition |
| especially when the work is outside in the | | | | and the way it's used can vary these |
| cold and wet such as in forestry. The disease | | | | measurements enormously. The HSE published a |
| affects a huge range of occupations where | | | | list of tools and their vibration levels with |
| hand-held vibrating machinery is used, from | | | | a graph showing the safe limits of a workers |
| hedge-trimmers and chainsaws to angle | | | | daily trigger time. |
| grinders and riveters. | | | | |
| | | | If you have a history of working with |
| French miners first reported the symptoms of | | | | vibrating hand-held tools and think you may |
| Vibration White Finger in the early 19th | | | | suffer from VWF or HAVS, then get it |
| century after pneumatic tools were | | | | diagnosed. Help yourself by keeping your |
| introduced. Professor Loriga recorded similar | | | | hands as warm as possible to stop the |
| muscular spasms in the hands of Italian | | | | arteries going into spasm. Some medicines may |
| miners in 1911. Seven years later Dr Alice | | | | also help. If you smoke, quit, as this will |
| Hamilton identified the link between | | | | improve your circulation. Finally stop or |
| prolonged use of vibrating hand-tools and VWF | | | | reduce the time you use the tools that may be |
| in quarry cutters and noted that cold weather | | | | causing the problem. Check what your 'trigger |
| severely aggravated the condition. | | | | time' should be and ensure the equipment is |
| | | | in good order and used correctly, possibly |
| Despite all this evidence it wasn't until | | | | update to a model that vibrates less. If the |
| 1975 that Dr Pelmear and Dr William Taylor | | | | disease means you can no longer work or it's |
| developed the Taylor-Pelmear scale to measure | | | | severely restricting your livelihood then |
| the affliction. In 1980, following a research | | | | explore pursuing a compensation claim. |
| paper by Professor Mike Griffin of | | | | |