Joined an utilities company over a year ago & HAVS was serious problem - x3 cases needed reported to HSE based on external occ health diagnosis. HSE were all over us for a while. New procedures adopted - new equipment sought, vibration levels & the traffic light system adopted, good maintenance + training + sample daily monitoring of staff exposure levels. HSE returned & were happy with progress. 33 employees monitored over last year - over 1000 exposure levels monitored - average daily exposure level was 0.6m/s2. Only x2 cases broke lower threshold level (2.5 & 2.6m/s2 respectively) Annual medical review last 2 weeks, indicates x3 cases need to be reported to HSE : x1 guy - was level 1 now level 3 - but has not been exposed to vibration in last year x1 guy - level 1 - but has been on off / light duties for last 9 months (after operation on shoulder) x1 new guy - level 3 - but tells us that he experiences no symptoms / concerns. Occ health doctors are working to HSE guidelines (allegedly) - but all diagnosis was done on verbal basis, no physical tests. They have stated that in all 3 cases the guys daily exposure to vibration should be monitored and not to exceed 1m/s2 - which is already the case!!! Questions: 1. Were the occ health providers doing the right examinations / diagnosis? - I am not a medical expert. 2. If so, are the HSE threshold values of any use in real life? Or are they mere arbitrary numbers that some geek in an office thought sounded good / easy to work with? (reminded that the 5dB change in the noise regs were implemented - but in reality these again are merely "nice-to-work" with figures that do not really mean much) We seem to be hurting our staff and cannot manage it - what are other real-life experiences of othere H&S professionals?

Lower Tier HAVS surveillance is not unfortunately fool-proof, but I don't think you can determine level 3 purely on the basis of interview!!! I have knowledge of issues similar to those you describe - and also symptoms 'disappearing'! There is of course the chance of admin errors mixing people up, and the remote (?) possibility of people masquerading as someone else. Does your Occ. Health provider check identity?

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l140.pdf I am sure there is guidance for the health professional is the back and info on how the Stockholm scale is applied...

Have experienced something similar in our workplace. Still working through the solutions.