VIBRATION WHITE FINGER CLAIMS
VWF HAVS WBV

Accident 999 is a network of personal injury solicitors who have detailed experience in dealing with vibration white finger claims. Our team provides legal advice at no cost and works on a completely risk free no win no fee basis. You do not have to fund or finance your claim, compensation is paid in full with no deductions and win or lose there is no charge. If you submit your details an experienced advocate who is a member of The Law Society Panel of personal injury experts will respond and give free advice without obligation on what steps you should take to claim compensation.

HAVS Hand arm vibration syndrome is a condition that affects people who have worked with heavy duty tools. Anyone who uses rotating, vibrating or percussive hand-guided power tools is at risk. HAVS is used to describe damage to circulation, usually to the fingers, hands and arms, arising from the shock of a vibrating tool. It can be accompanied by bone and joint problems and affect the sense of touch.

This condition often affects miners, road diggers and other construction workers together with those using industrial sewing machines, grinders, floor polishers and foundry workers including fettlers and grinders using chipping hammers and portable or fixed grinding machines. It is found in occupations as diverse as speedboat operators and tree surgeons as well as the more obvious miners and road repair contractors and other occupations with high risk include bricklayers and masons, gardeners and grounds men, carpenters and joiners, electricians and electrical maintenance fitters, and builders and building contractors.

HAVS includes the much better known condition of VWF where the fingers blanch and become painful especially when exposed to cold. Over 300,000 people suffer from this condition in the UK and most are elligible to make vibration white finger claims. The symptoms include a tingling sensation and numbness or whiteness of parts of the fingers and with continued exposure to shock and vibration the symptoms usually become more severe, particularly in cold weather. The fingers may lose their normal sense of touch and the affected fingers may become painful, red and throbbing when the circulation returns.

Musculoskeletal disorders may also be associated with WBV Whole Body Vibration syndrome which often affects drivers of lorries, tractors and off-road vehicles.

The industry group with the highest average rate of new assessments of VWF involves the extraction of energy and water supply. Other industry groups with high rates of new cases are construction, manufacturing, and agriculture, forestry and fishing and these groups include industries where there is substantial use of vibrating tools.

The limitation period for taking legal action for VWF, HAVS or WBV is three years however the period does not start running until there was knowledge of the illness. The court does however have wide power to extend the normal time limits.