Monthly sales of the safety devices – which help prevent exposure to Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) among workers using vibrating power tools - have doubled over the past month to their highest-ever level thanks to a surge of interest from companies looking to improve their health & safety targets.
HAVmeter technology is designed to accurately measure employees’ exposure to vibration levels from power tools, in order to prevent them exceeding strict limits set by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
It is already used by some of the biggest names in the UK, including Tarmac, Balfour Beattie and GAP Group, but the record month of sales indicates that the devices are growing in popularity across every sector that uses vibrating equipment.
Jim O’Hagan, managing director of Reactec Ltd, which develops the HAVmeter system, said: “From the start of June, we’ve seen a huge rise in the number of enquiries and sales for HAVmeters. Our monthly sales have actually doubled to their highest-ever level and this trend is continuing, which shows just how highly-regarded the devices are now becoming across the UK.
-- Advertisement --
“Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome is still a huge problem for many industries throughout the country that rely on the use of power tools and vibrating equipment. The disease can leave workers in crippling pain for the rest of their lives and unable to do the simplest of tasks with their hands – and also makes employers vulnerable to compensation claims or fines for failing to protect their staff from the dangers.
“However, the condition is easily prevented by having a good monitoring system in place to ensure that workers do not exceed the statutory levels for vibration set by HSE – and it’s clear that companies see HAVmeter is the best method of achieving this.
“We’re very pleased with our recent performance and are now looking forward to maintaining this success by promoting HAVmeters to many more high-profile companies over the coming months.”
The HAVmeter devices are small, easy-to-use monitors designed to replace the cumbersome and ineffective paper-based systems that were previously used to measure exposure to vibration. Each meter is programmed with the employee’s individual vibration exposure limits and is attached to every tool that they use during their shift to analyses and report their trigger time and total HSE points accumulated during a day’s shift.
The data can also be downloaded using Toolminder software to create full, comprehensive and accurate set of reports on vibration exposure for health & safety managers to use for every employee’s healthcare plan.
(GK)
