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Welsh housing association fined by Health and Safety Executive
A Welsh housing association has been fined £30,000 for failing to protect its workers from hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
Welsh housing association fined by Health and Safety Executive #ukhousingWelsh housing association ‘failed to reduce workers’ exposure to vibration’ #ukhousingTai Calon fined £30,000 for worker health and safety failures #ukhousingTai Calon Community Housing, which owns around 6,000 homes in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales, was sentenced at Newport Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Magistrates heard that Tai Calon employees were routinely exposed to vibration in their day-to-day work between July 2010 and May 2015.
Several workers were diagnosed with HAVS – which causes pain and loss of strength in the hands – after the association introduced health screening in May 2015.
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Following an investigation, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Tai Calon had failed to adequately assess the risk to its staff from using vibrating tools, failed to implement measures to reduce their exposure to vibration and did not provide proper information and training.
As well as the fine, the landlord was ordered to pay £2,789.25 in legal costs for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Paul Newton, inspector at the HSE, said: “In this case, if Tai Calon had understood why health surveillance was necessary, it would have ensured that it had the right systems in place to monitor its workers’ health.
“This prosecution highlights the health risks from using vibratory tools and the importance of employers having a health surveillance programme.
“Where vibratory tools are used, employers should monitor the health of employees using them and ensure appropriate systems are in place to manage and control the risk from vibration.”
The HSE is the national regulator for health and safety in the workplace.
A spokesperson for Tai Calon said: “Tai Calon takes its health and safety responsibilities extremely seriously. Therefore the organisation chose to self report this historic breach as soon as it was identified following changes in the management team in 2015.
“The court judgement recognised that Tai Calon had self reported, cooperated fully with the Health and Safety Executive and had taken effective remedial action.”
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