Alexander Dennis Limited – a national bus and coach manufacturer based in Edinburgh – has been fined for ignoring numerous warnings regarding the safety of its workers.
The company ignored advice regarding the overuse of hand-held power tools, which was issued to it by various health and safety experts over several years.
It also failed to act on the direct complaints of its workers, which highlighted the pain, numbness and whiteness in their fingers experienced after using hand-held power tools for prolonged periods.
Specialist reports alerted the company to the fact that the symptoms being reported by workers were likely to be the permanently debilitating condition known as hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
However, Alexander Dennis Ltd took no action to improve conditions for workers.
Sheffield Crown Court heard that the company did not have a system to replace tools that were unfit for purpose, and a lack of general monitoring and maintenance meant that tools were not minimising the vibrations responsible for harming workers.
Furthermore, employees were not provided with guidance on how to reduce the risk of developing HAVS, and there was no health surveillance programme to check for early indicators of the condition among the workforce.
Up to 25 staff in a repair workshop operated by the company were exposed to hand-arm transmitted vibration, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
There were no restrictions on the type of hand-held power tools employees were given to use, or the length of time they were allowed to operate them.
Alexander Dennis Ltd was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £18,643 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The company has reportedly taken numerous measures to ensure that workers are not put at the same risk again in future.