HSE previews new CD-ROM on vibration white finger hazard

Keywords Health and Safety, Work related injury

A preview of vibration white finger guidance on a CD-ROM places the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) firmly at the cutting edge of communication technology for the new millennium.

The CD-ROM uses the best of HSE's existing paper publications on hand-arm vibration with the added dimension of moving pictures, sound and animation.

Announcing the new product at the launch of Phase 4 of the HSE's Good Health is Good Business campaign, Vibration Policy Officer Brian Coles said:

Multimedia PCs are becoming commonplace in business and the home and are already the preferred choice for many people when accessing information. Today, many businesses, large and small, have access to multimedia and the Internet. Tomorrow, electronic communication will be the norm. This presents enormous opportunities for HSE in its mission to inform, guide and promote improvements in the safety and health of our workers.

HSE's new CD-ROM on hand-arm vibration will provide managers and health and safety specialists with an excellent new tool in the battle against diseases such as vibration white finger. This will not be HSE's first CD-ROM, but it is perhaps one of its most ambitious and well designed. Importantly, I believe its designers have succeeded in making it attractive and appealing to use, as well as containing a wealth of useful information.

The CD-ROM is the latest in a series of HSE publications on hand-arm vibration, including a technical handbook, free leaflets for employers and employees, a pocket card for employees, a book of 50 vibration control case studies, and a 15 minute video.

The management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 require employers to assess the risks from hand-arm vibration and to take preventive action. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 require employers to take account of vibration emissions when selecting equipment for employees to use, to make sure it is used properly, and to ensure it is maintained properly.

People who work regularly and frequently with powered hand-held tools or on other work processes which expose them to vibration through the hands are at risk of developing permanently disabling diseases of the hands and arms known as hand-arm vibration syndrome or HAVS. The most common and best-known of these diseases is vibration white finger.

Over a million people are estimated to be exposed to hand-arm vibration at work, and it is estimated that around 160,000 are exposed at levels where there is a risk of developing HAVS. It is currently estimated that around 36,000 people have a serious level of the most common disease, vibration white finger(figures based on 1995 self-reported work related illness survey). Long-term exposure to high levels of hand-arm vibration is known to cause hand-arm vibration syndrome.

Copies of the CD-ROM "The successful management of hand-arm vibration",priced £95 plus VAT, are available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury,Suffolk CO10 2WA. Tel: +44 (0)1787 881165; Fax: +44 (0)1787 313995.