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Vibration White Finger Claim

What is Vibration White Finger?

About VWF

Vibration White Finger or VWF is often referred to as Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome or HAVS now. It used to be referred to as Vibration White Finger until it was realised that there were many more symptoms connected to the condition than simply having white fingers.

Vibration White Finger is an industrial injury which mainly affects people who operate hand-held vibrating power tools such as chainsaws, grinders, hammers, impact wrenches, pneumatic drills, sanders, strimmers or other power tools for a number of years.

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How is Vibration White Finger Caused and prevented?

Protect Yourself from Vibration White Finger

It is thought that Vibration White Finger is caused by the vibrations from the power tools which cause minor injuries to the nerves and blood vessels in the fingers. The longer a person works with the vibrating power tools, the more minor injuries will be caused, which in time accumulate to cause Vibration White Finger.

To try and prevent yourself from developing Vibration White Finger there are certain measures you can take such as giving up smoking which can slow down your blood flow and increase your risk of developing Vibration White Finger. If you are using the vibrating power tools at work, your employer has a duty to protect you and should have implemented safety measures to minimise your risk of developing Vibration White Finger such as:

Ensuring you have regular breaks from using the vibrating power tools
Providing you with antivibration gloves
Keeping your working environment at a reasonable temperature
Maintaining and repairing tools where necessary
Providing the correct tools for the type of job you are doing
Providing training on how to hold and use tools correctly

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Symptoms of Vibration White Finger

Common Symptoms of VWF

Symptoms of Vibration White Finger can differ greatly for each different sufferer and while some people have a lot of the common symptoms, others only have a few.

The most common symptoms of Vibration White Finger are:

A tingling sensation or numbness in the fingertips
A cold sensation in the fingers or a discolouration of the skin
General aches and pains in the hands, arms and fingers

A tingling sensation or numbness in the fingertips

Some sufferers of Vibration White Finger suffer from a pins and needles tingling sensation in their fingers as well as a numbness or loss of feeling in the fingers caused by nerve damage.

Sometimes these symptoms are limited to the fingertips but in other, more serious cases they can extend up the whole length of the fingers.

The symptoms can be intermittent and come and go from time or time or they can be permanent which can cause problems for the Vibration White Finger sufferer when they try to do intricate work such as fastening buttons or picking up small objects such as coins.

A cold sensation in the fingers or a discolouration of the skin

Having a feeling of coldness in the fingers is a common symptom of Vibration White Finger, as is a discolouration of the skin. Some sufferers of Vibration White Finger find that their fingers turn from white to blue or red.

These particular symptoms are caused by a form of Raynaud's Disease and are often triggered by being out in cold weather conditions or holding a cold object. The discolouration of the skin and feeling of coldness is caused by damage to the blood vessels and the pain can last for a few minutes or a few hours.

General aches and pains in the hands, arms and fingers

Some suffers of Vibration White Finger report general aches and pains in their arms, hands and fingers. These pains are thought to be caused by damage to the muscles, joints or bones and can cause some people to have reduced strength when trying to grip an object.

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What should I do now that I have developed Vibration White Finger?

Once symptoms of Vibration White Finger appear

If you have been working with vibrating power tools for a while and start to develop mild symptoms of Vibration White Finger, you should stop using the power tools as this may prevent your mild symptoms from becoming more serious.

If you think you are developing symptoms of Vibration White Finger you should seek medical attention to have this confirmed by visiting your own GP.

You should also report your condition to your employer and seek legal advice from a specialist solicitor who can advise you of your rights with regards to compensation.

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Am I entitled to make a claim for Compensation?

Personal Injury Claims for Vibration White Finger

If you have developed Vibration White Finger as a result of using power tools at work, you may be entitled to make a personal injury claim for compensation.

In 1976 it was recognised that vibrating power tools could cause Vibration White Finger and a duty of care was placed upon employers to protect their employees from this danger.

Since this time, many people have made successful claims for compensation. One particular industry which has given rise to thousands of claims is the coal mining industry, where vibrating power tools were used on a daily basis.

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Compensation Claim Advice

Starting a Claim for Compensation

If you or someone you know has developed Vibration White Finger or any other industrial disease, telephone us now for accurate claim advice.

There are strict time limits in place to make any personal injury compensation claim. For further information, contact us or visit our Questions Answered page.

Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all personal injury matters. We will be able to advise you whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation. Our specialist personal injury lawyers will be happy to talk you through the process of making a claim in plain English and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have. If you do have a valid personal injury compensation claim and you decide to instruct Thompsons Solicitors to deal with the matter for you, we will recover our legal fees from the person responsible for your injury, ensuring that the entire procedure is cost-free for you. Telephone us now on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online personal injury compensation claim forms.

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News Stories we have published about VWF

Clients we have helped with their Vibration White Finger claim

From time to time, we publish news stories on our website about clients we have helped with their compensation claims. Below is a selection of stories about claims we have made for sufferers of Vibration White Finger. To read our other news stories, visit our News Desk.

11th January 2012 - Plater receives more compensation after further exposure to vibrating tools

19th December 2011 - Government must act on employers liability insurance bureau after another worker loses out

17th November 2011 - Plater compensated after being exposed to vibrating tools

25th October 2010 - CE Electric UK compensates employee for hand arm vibration syndrome

12th October 2010 - Sheet metal worker compensated for vibration white finger

1st June 2010 - Stonemason received £56,000 for HAVS

10th February 2010 - Corus worker receives compensation for vibration injury

7th December 2009 - Compensation for welder with disabled hands

19th November 2009 - Ex-power station worker compensated for hand injuries

16th October 2009 - Railway worker compensated for HAVS

4th August 2009 - Former Ford employee compensated for vibration injury

10th June 2009 - GMB member compensated for vibration injury