Land Rover has been prosecuted for failing control risks associated with using vibrating hand tools.
Land Rover (vehicle manufacturer) pleaded guilty to the charges brought against it in relation to activities at its plant in Lode Lane, Solihull, and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £60,606 costs.
The firm was prosecuted after a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation in 2007 into the working practices concerning two employees in the weld destruct section where air chisels were used to undo welds on cars to test the strength of them.
Two cases of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) had been reported in December 2006. The subsequent investigation found that vibrating hand tools were being used across the plant with a lack of assessment and management of risk and when a health surveillance regime was then made effective, other cases came to light.
Solihull magistrates also heard there was no system in place to measure how long was being spent using the tools by each employee or the levels of vibration. The recommended amount of time for one of the tools to be used was one hour per day per person, but it had been in use for three hours per day.
In all, ten employees were thought to be affected by ill-health attributable to the use of vibrating hand tools at the Solihull plant
Source: Health & Safety Executive
