WHILE CERTAIN types of tool have long been recognised as being associated with the onset of HAVS, over the years the range of tools has increased, and continues to do so.
When Strange, Strange and Gardner was initially consulted in a matter concerning the operation of a cutter used in vehicle window removal, databases did not indicate the type of tool to be recognised as giving rise to HAVS.
REGULAR AND prolonged occupational exposure of the hands to high levels of vibration can cause the distressing and disabling condition known as handarm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
The symptoms can include numbness and tingling in the fingers, with loss of dexterity, painful attacks of vibration white finger (loss of finger blood supply), joint pain, stiffness and reduced grip strength.
IN THE last issue of Your Witness we looked at occupational asthma and its causes. Professor Robert Douglas made the point that: “The first rule of management of asthma is prevention.”
The idea that ‘prevention is better than cure’ may be axiomatic, but in the case of the prevention of occupational asthma there are rules and regulations that may and have led to prosecution.
THE PUBLICATION of the Pitt Report in June last year recognised that neither insurers, loss adjusters, nor indeed contractors knew what they were doing with regard to flood restoration or recovery in the recent floods affecting Hull, Sheffield, and Gloucester, writes JEFF CHARLTON of Claimtech.
SURVEILLANCE of public places, such as town centres, stations, car parks and housing estates, using closed-circuit television (CCTV) is increasingly commonplace.
The UK is first in the global league table for the ratio of cameras to people, with estimations ranging from a staggering one camera for every five people to one in 12.
