As part of our health surveillance process, we require all employee's to complete an annual health declaration which we ask a number of pointed questions, in this case "do you get pins & needles in your hands/arms". One employee has indicated yes and after speaking to him, it would seem the repetitive nature of one particular working task gives him these symptoms. He doesn't see it as a big deal, the symptoms go away when he's not doing the task, and he reckons its not a big enough issue to visit his GP over. Question - Should we INSIST he see's his own GP regarding this issue or arrange for further medical assessment ourselves?

I don't want to play a possible serious issue down but.... it depends on what task is causing the problem and why - I once had a question from a worker who got pins and needles in hands when using a knapsack sprayer, took a look at what he was doing, loosened the shoulder straps a bit and problem solved.

Thats the name of it.

I would say your monitoring system has worked and it is now time for a proper assessment, via your occ Health provider. It will be well worth the money for both you and him. Talk to your provider, who will steer you down the correct route.

I understand the disease/ phenomenon to be Raynaud's. Raynard is a popular name for a fox in children's books. If this tingling sensation is directly attributable to a task using vibratory tools and is a frequent task, then you need to be doing more to assess and properly manage the exposure.

What is his age? And has he had any previous hand related matters?

I would consider a referal to an OHP for a HAVs assessment and general health screening. Alternatively, look at the process that may be causing the issue and reduce the exposure. Monitor for a period, if no improvement refer to OHP.

I don’t think the ‘option’ of him seeing his own Doctor should be on the table. By all means this is good advice for the person and should they pursue this medical intervention, all good and well. I think the management answer is through the reading of Regulation 6&7 of the Vibration Reg’s. Risk assess the job. Measure the magnitude to which the person is exposed to and if they fall into an action value of 2.5m/s2 (A8) or above you’ll need to look at health surveillance (HS). If you refer the person then you’ll be able to manage the who, why, what, where and how of the HS. You’ll have access to your own occupational health experts diagnosis. From there, you’ll be in a much better position to either advise the employee, protect against long term health damage etc.. That said, they might have been working on vibration kit for so long that even something as little as 1.0m/s2 (A8) sets them off. By reading your first post you have some sort of paperwork HS questionnaire. I wold suggest this is supported/backed up by the occupational health people. So, for me. Insist that he sees your people (occupational health).

Thanks for the input guys, i've now done a couple of things. I've refered the individual for a personal HAVs assessment with our occupational health provider and i've withdrawn him from the activities which gave him the pins and needles till the findings are complete. Here's another question regarding health assessments. Given that they throw up all kinds of information, such as one guy suffers from nosebleeds, another has asthma, another has a dodgy ankle that flicks out of joint from time to time, other operatives taking prescribed medication etc. The question is, should i inform our first aiders of these findings, given the fact that forewarned is forarmed should an incident arise?

I understand that the sharing of information is a minefield, Data Protection Act and all that, but the only info I would divulge is that which is relevant for 1st aid activities, and already documented by the employee on the health surveillance questionnaire anyway. Surely if someone has say a contagious condition, then you are duty bound to inform the 1st aider of the potential risk anyway?