Do you need Hand Arm Vibration syndrome (HAVS) health surveillance?

An important health and safety issue facing many heavy-industry and construction workers is the risk of vibration injury from certain handheld tools that leads to a condition called hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).

The Control of Vibrations at work regulations 2005 define a daily exposure action value and a daily exposure limit value for hand transmitted vibration (HTV). Health surveillance must take place when:

• Employees are regularly exposed to HTV above the action value of 2.5 minutes over a standard 8 hour day.
• If an employee is occasionally exposed to HTV above the action value and the risk assessment identifies that this exposure may pose a risk to health
• If an employee has a previous diagnosis of HAVS.