Hand-Arm Vibration Toolbox Talk

In June 2024, HSE learned that workers at a metal fabrication company on Immingham Docks were falling ill from vibrating tools, and seven employees were eventually reported. Some had fingers that went white during simple jobs, some were kept awake by numb hands, and some could no longer grip properly. The company had not assessed the risk, reduced exposure, provided health surveillance or trained its staff. In February 2026 it was fined £44,000 and ordered to pay £8,061.70 in costs.

Source: Health and Safety Executive

1. High vibration tools include breakers, rotary hammers, needle guns, grinders, concrete pokers and plate compactors.
2. Warning signs: tingling, pins and needles, numbness, losing grip, and fingers going white in the cold.
3. Use other methods where you can, such as a crusher, a breaker on an excavator, or diamond drilling instead of hammering.
4. Choose low vibration tools and keep them maintained. Blunt bits and worn parts vibrate more.
5. Limit trigger time and rotate the job. The exposure action value is 2.5 m/s² A(8) and the limit value is 5 m/s² A(8).
6. Know your trigger time. Use the tool's vibration figure and the HSE ready reckoner or points system: a heavy breaker can reach the action value in a few minutes and the limit in under an hour.
7. Trigger time is only the time the tool is actually running against the work, and it is usually far less than people guess. Time it on a normal day.
8. Let the tool do the work. Grip lightly and do not force it.
9. Use anti-vibration mounts, handles and sharp, matched bits. Report a tool that vibrates more than normal so it can be fixed.
10. Anti-vibration gloves do little to stop vibration. Their real job is keeping your hands warm and dry.
11. Keep your hands warm and dry. Cold makes vibration damage worse.
12. Smoking cuts blood flow to the fingers and makes vibration damage more likely.
13. Report symptoms early. If you regularly use vibrating tools you should be under health surveillance, with a questionnaire every year and a check by a qualified person if symptoms show up.

1. Which tools on this job vibrate the most?
2. How long are we using them each day?
3. Has anyone had tingling or numb fingers after work?
4. Is there a lower vibration way to do today's job?
5. Who keeps track of trigger time on this job, and how?

• Hold the talk with the highest vibration tools for this job laid out in front of the crew.
• Read the vibration figure off one tool and work out its points per hour with the HSE ready reckoner.
• Ask each person to estimate their trigger time today, then agree how it will be timed or logged.
• Ask whether anyone has tingling, numbness or white fingers, and explain how to report it privately.
• Agree one lower vibration method for today's work, such as a breaker on an excavator.
• Record attendance and any health surveillance follow ups on the sign-in sheet.

The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 set a daily exposure action value of 2.5 m/s² A(8) and a limit value of 5 m/s² A(8) for hand-arm vibration. Employers must remove vibration risk at source or reduce it as far as is reasonably practicable, and provide health surveillance where workers are at risk. A diagnosis of hand arm vibration syndrome in someone who regularly uses vibrating tools must be reported to HSE under RIDDOR.

Source: legislation.gov.uk, Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4