Rotherham Council Fined £60,000 Over Worker Vibration Injuries

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has been penalized £60,000 after its employees continued to operate vibrating tools despite having sustained injuries. The council admitted guilt to charges of failing to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of its workforce. One road maintenance worker, whose duties included repairing potholes, persisted in using vibrating tools for 14 years after receiving a Hand-arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) diagnosis. Andrew Bramidge, regeneration and environment director at Rotherham Council, stated that the authority “fully accepts” the court’s judgment regarding its past deficiencies. This road worker was diagnosed in 2005 and, despite recommendations to limit exposure, was permitted to work with vibrating tools until the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) investigation commenced in 2019. The inquiry revealed that numerous employees continued to use the equipment even after receiving identical or comparable diagnoses. An HSE spokesperson indicated that these workers routinely exceeded the established exposure limits because the vibration magnitude of the tools was “grossly underestimated.” Employees were incentivized to continue operating the tools through a bonus scheme and opportunities for overtime, factors which “inevitably led to high levels of exposure.” Individuals were reassigned to different duties solely upon the deterioration of their health. On December 17, Sheffield Magistrates’ Court ordered the local authority to pay £5,775,70 in costs, in addition to the imposed fine. Mr. Bramidge commented: “The safety and wellbeing of our workforce remains our highest priority.”