Recent work on the delivery tunnel for the internationally renowned Harrods department store in London, required a significant amount of handwork using vibrating tools that carry the inherent risk of hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), the most common form being vibration white finger (VWF). Cementation Skanska‘s strategy was to select low vibration tools, ignore the effects of anti-vibration gloves and make provisions for regular job rotation and equipment maintenance for tools. Training and education for management supervisors and operatives was implemented together with proper health surveillance. The health surveillance programme also involved a pre-employment medical and regular six week check up. An average daily exposure time was established for the workers and a full time HAVS site engineer was employed on site, equipped with a vibration meter and a stopwatch to measure trigger times. T&TI, January 2000.
Judging Panel’s Comments: Since the Health & Safety Executive targeted the use of hand held tools as causes of hand arm vibration syndrome, the industry as a whole has been attempting to come to terms with what appeared to be an insolvable problem. The judges considered that the input from Cementation Skanska is the single-most important contribution towards a practical solution to the problem and has been the embryo for the current approach to HAVS.
