A motor sales company and occupational health consultant have been fined by the Sheffield Crown Court for safety breaches.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted an investigation and found that Perrys Motor Sales Lts (PMS) had failed to adequately asses and control the future risk to SMART repairers, leading to a worker developing Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS).
This case was heard at Sheffield Crown Court and it found that an employee at PMS, Doncaster site (who was diagnosed with HAVS) was working at a small to medium area repair technology (SMART) repairer and regularly used handheld power tools to undertake small scale vehicle body work repairs.
There were specific legal requirements that PMS should have adhered to, one of these being to report the condition to the local authorities. They should have also put measures in place to help protect the employee from further damage to his health following the diagnosis. Neither of these requirements were followed through by PMS.
As part of the investigation S & Ash Ltd who were engaged by PMS to provide HAVS health surveillance for employees, were found to have failed to provide suitable and accurate advice to PMS regarding HAVS health surveillance for employees. S & Ash also failed to inform the affected employee of the results of his health surveillance, despite being specifically requested to do so by the employee himself.
PMS pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and Regulation 8 of The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013. PMS has been fined £140,000 and ordered to pay £7,658.67 in costs.
S & Ash pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. S & Ash has been fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £8,716.17 in costs.
Following the hearing HSE inspector, Heather Cunnington, provided a statement: *“Vibration can cause long-term painful damage to hands and fingers.
“The motor vehicle repair trade must understand the importance of suitable risk assessments and having a robust occupational health and safety management system. Employers should ensure that the results of health surveillance are acted upon and employees are protected from the risks from HAV when working with handheld power tools.
“Occupational health providers are in a unique position in safeguarding the health of employees and must provide accurate reports to employers following HAV health surveillance. Employers must act on these reports.”*
If you have any queries regarding health and safety support or training including carrying out risk assessments, please get in touch with one of the team on 01924 827869. We would be happy to help.
Reference –
*https://press.hse.gov.uk/2020/07/09/company-and-occupational-health-provider-fined/
