​Hand Held Power Tools of Vehicles.

The use of Hand Power Tools such as concrete breakers, sanders, grinders, disc cutters, hammer drills, chainsaws, hedge trimmers, heat guns and hand held croppers can cause ill health from vibration related injuries to joints for example vibration white finger or Reynaud’s disease – these are collectively known as Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) illnesses.

There is a related issue of whole body vibration arising from driving vibrating vehicles.

Hand-arm vibration is the transmission of vibrations from work equipment/processes into workers hands and arms.Regular and frequent exposure to HAV can lead to permanent injury to hand and arm joints.

Identifying signs and symptoms at an early stage is essential to avoid long term injury.The symptoms of which include any combination of:

• Tingling and numbness in the fingers;
• Not being able to feel things properly;
• Loss of strength in the hands; or
• Fingers going white (blanching) and becoming red and painful on recovery (particularly in the cold and wet, and probably only in the tips at first).

Before using any hand held power tool the HAV risks arising from using such equipment must be included in the Risk Assessment for the activity and should be completed prior to use. Further guidance on HAV can be found on the HSE Website (link opens in a new window).

Equipment/tools for which HAV hazards exist should also be available from the equipment’s manufacturers to assist you with this Risk Assessment.

The HSE provide a simple HAV exposure calculator to determine the likelihood of HAV injuries occurring, see the HSE Vibration calculator. Where the potential for such injuries exist those exposed will be required to register for regular Occupational Health screening medicals, see SHE Code 24, Appendix 1. If you believe that HAV or whole body vibration hazards may arise from your work please contact your local SHE Group for advice and any use of the HSE HAV exposure calculator (link opens in a new window).