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📋 Toolbox Talk · Health & Safety

Hand-Arm Vibration:
The Damage You Can't Undo

Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 — exposure action and limit values, health surveillance, trigger times and your right to protection.

✅ Verified August 2026📚 HSE · Vibration at Work Regs 2005🇬🇧 Applies across the UKukworkrights.co.uk

The risk

Why hand-arm vibration matters

Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) is permanent and cannot be reversed once nerve and blood vessel damage sets in
Early signs are tingling, numbness and loss of grip — often noticed first at night or in the cold
Advanced HAVS causes vibration white finger, where fingers blanch and become painful on exposure to cold
It can end a trade career — people lose the ability to hold small objects, fasten buttons or work safely at height
Carpal tunnel syndrome is also a recognised consequence of vibration exposure
Regularly affected tools: breakers, grinders, sanders, chainsaws, needle guns, impact wrenches and plate compactors
HAVS is a reportable disease under RIDDOR when diagnosed and linked to work

⚠ It is the trigger time that counts

Exposure is measured by how long the tool is actually cutting, breaking or grinding — not by shift length. A high-vibration breaker can reach the daily limit in well under an hour.

The legal limits

Exposure action and limit values

The exposure action value (EAV) is 2.5 m/s² A(8) averaged over eight hours — at this point your employer must act to reduce exposure and provide health surveillance
The exposure limit value (ELV) is 5 m/s² A(8) — this must not be exceeded, full stop
Employers must assess the vibration risk, not guess it — using tool data and realistic trigger times
Where the EAV is reached, employers must reduce exposure to as low as reasonably practicable and put a programme of controls in place
Health surveillance is legally required above the EAV, and must be provided free and in working time
Controls include lower-vibration tools, job rotation, better cutting kit, and shorter trigger times — gloves are not a reliable control

Anti-vibration gloves are not the answer

HSE is clear that gloves cannot be relied on to reduce vibration exposure. They keep hands warm, which helps symptoms, but they do not bring you back under the limit.

Your rights

What you're entitled to

Health surveillance free of charge if you are regularly exposed above the action value — usually a questionnaire, then assessment by a qualified person
To be told the results of your own health surveillance
To have your exposure reduced if HAVS is detected — that may mean different tools or different work
Information and training on the risk, the symptoms and how to reduce exposure
Protection from detriment or dismissal for raising a health and safety concern — Employment Rights Act 1996 s.44 and s.100
If you have been diagnosed, you may be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, and a civil claim may be possible

Report symptoms early

HAVS caught at an early stage can often be stopped from getting worse by changing the work. Left unreported, it progresses. Telling someone is not making a fuss — it is the only thing that works.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim compensation for HAVS?

Potentially. If your employer failed to assess or control vibration exposure and you have been diagnosed with HAVS or carpal tunnel syndrome, a personal injury claim may be possible. Time limits generally run three years from the date you knew your condition was work-related. Speak to a solicitor who handles occupational disease.

Do anti-vibration gloves keep me under the limit?

No. HSE guidance is explicit that gloves cannot be relied on to reduce vibration exposure to acceptable levels. They help keep hands warm, which eases symptoms, but the control has to come from the tool, the method or the trigger time.

What if my employer won't provide health surveillance?

Health surveillance is a legal requirement above the exposure action value, not an optional benefit. Raise it in writing first. If nothing changes, HSE can be contacted on 0300 003 1747 — and you are protected from detriment for raising it.

For whoever runs this talk

Delivery notes & attendance record

Suggested length: 10–15 minutes. A toolbox talk is a short briefing on one hazard, given by a supervisor to the crew doing the work.

Before you start

Ask who used a breaker, grinder or sander today and for how long. HAVS is measured in trigger time — actual tool-on-work time — not how long the shift was. Most people massively overestimate how much they can safely use a tool for.

Questions to ask the team

Which tools do you use that vibrate, and roughly how long is the trigger actually pulled?
Has anyone noticed tingling, numbness or fingers going white in the cold?
Do you know the vibration rating of the tools you use?
Could a lower-vibration tool or a different method do the same job?

The law behind this talk

Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (regs. 5, 6 and 7 — assessment, control and health surveillance); Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.2(2)(c)

Employers must give workers comprehensible information, instruction and training on the risks they face — Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.2(2)(c) and Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 reg. 10. Keep the record below as evidence that you did.

Attendance record

Topic	Hand-Arm Vibration: The Damage You Can't Undo
Date
Site / location
Delivered by
Actions agreed
Next talk due

Attendees

Name	Signature

Use the Print handout button to print this record. General guidance only, not legal advice. This toolbox talk is generic material and is not a substitute for a suitable and sufficient risk assessment by a competent person. Employers remain responsible for their duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Free H&S guidance

Hand-Arm Vibration
free guidance

Get plain-English guidance on your rights and your employer's legal duties.

HSE Infoline

0300 003 1747

hse.gov.uk

ACAS

0300 123 1100

acas.org.uk

Citizens Advice

0800 144 8848

citizensadvice.org.uk

UK Work Rights

Hand-Arm Vibration

ukworkrights.co.uk/toolbox-havs.html

General guidance only — not legal advice · Verified August 2026 · © UK Work Rights Ltd · Company No. 17228507 · ICO registered · Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ · hello@ukworkrights.co.uk
Directed and published by Matt Thompson, founder
Content is produced with AI assistance and checked against primary sources including GOV.UK, ACAS and legislation.gov.uk before publication.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Hand-Arm Vibration:The Damage You Can't Undo