Notts firm fined after employees suffer nerve damage

Aerospace engineering company failed to protect staff from the effects of vibration

A Nottinghamshire aerospace engineering company has been ordered to pay more than £190,000 in fines and costs for failing to protect its employees from the effects of vibration, after 24 workers were diagnosed with debilitating nerve conditions.

SPS Aerostructures was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the workers developed either Hand Arm Vibration syndrome (HAVS) or carpal tunnel syndrome from being exposed to high levels of vibration for several years at the company’s premises in Annesley.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that although the HSE was notified of an employee being diagnosed with HAVS in 2010, the issue dated back to 2005 when the company’s health and safety committee asked it to carry out a suitable risk assessment for exposure to vibration, and act on the result.

An assessment of the company’s tools took place in 2006, which identified some posed a high risk from exposure to vibration. However, they were not taken out of service and no controls were put on their use until 2010.

Some employees used their own tools, which were also not assessed, therefore no controls put in place. The HSE found that although SPS Aerostructures provided some health surveillance for employees, it was not sufficient to identify symptoms early and refer individuals to occupational health specialists for diagnosis and management.

SPS Aerostructures, was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay £65,805 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

HSE inspector Dawn Smith said: “SPS Aerostructures was, from 2005, regularly being made aware that employees were suffering from vibration-related symptoms. They were being supplied with this information directly from staff and from their occupational health nurse. However, they chose to ignore this information and allowed employees to work unrestricted with high risk tools, or their own tools.

“The company was slow to implement improvements even after HSE’s involvement and had to be issued with an Improvement Notice in 2011 to ensure compliance.

“Adequate assessment of the risk from vibration, provision of tools with lower vibration levels, and a good system of work would have ensured workers were not over-exposed to vibration. A better health surveillance system would also have identified problems earlier, and symptoms could have been managed to prevent them getting worse,” Smith added.