A company has been prosecuted after employees were exposed to Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) while using power tools.

Newfield Fabrications Co Ltd of Sandbach, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulations 6(1) and 8(1) of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. It has been fined £120,000 with £7,241 in costs.

Manchester and Salford Magistrates heard how the engineering firm failed to ensure the risks to its employees from exposure was adequately controlled.

The company also failed to ensure its employees were given sufficient information, instruction and training on the effects of working with vibrating hand tools.


A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that sometime towards the end of 2015, a welder who had been working at the company for a number of years had been given a job that involved a significant amount of grinding and polishing. After a number of hours on the task, the worker began to experience numbness and tingling. He asked to swap with another worker but was told to carry on. Whilst his symptoms continued he was told by his supervisor to carry on using vibrating tools.

A few weeks later, a 20-year-old apprentice welder also began to suffer from vibration-related symptoms from using similar tools.

HSE inspector Helen Jones said: "This is a case of the company failing to protect workers using vibrating tools. Exposure to hand arm vibration is a well-known risk which the company failed to adequately control.

"The company also failed to ensure workers were looked after when symptoms did arise leading to further exposure. This was wholly inadequate, and led to two employees suffering significant health effects."

(LM/MH)