Two employers fined over £340,000 after failing to protect workers from Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome
Stonewater Limited, a social housing provider, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and, following the guilty plea, the company has been fined £140,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,742 at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 14th April 2025.
The significant fine was imposed on the company after two of its employees were diagnosed with Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), with one of the employees estimated to have used vibrating equipment for 90% of his working day.
The employees were required to use vibrating tools as part of their role in carrying out ground maintenance for the housing provider in the Coventry area. The connection between excessive use of vibrating tools and symptoms of HAVS are well documented, and with the employees being employed between 2018 and 2023, one would have expected to see at least partial compliance with the Control of Vibration at Work 2005 Regulations. However, Stonewater Limited failed to undertake any risk assessments, failed to measure exposure to vibrating tools regularly and accurately to reduce the risk from vibration as low as practicably possible, failed to provide information, instruction or training to the employees on vibration and failed to provide the employees with any suitable system of health surveillance.
In addition to the successful prosecution against Stonewater Limited, the Health and Safety Executive has also fined a car dealership franchise in Devon and Cornwall, Rowes Garage Ltd, following a guilty plea in breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. Again, two of its employees were diagnosed with symptoms of HAVS in November 2022 following repeated exposure to vibrating tools. The company was fined £204,000 and ordered to pay £8,099 in costs at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 8 May 2025.
These successful prosecutions serve as a reminder to companies that the Health and Safety Executive has powers to impose significant fines where there has been a breach of the law, on top of any civil claims for damages brought by employees.
