Vibration white finger

Vibration white finger is a common disease throughout many people who have been exposed to the use of large amounts of industrial vibrating hand held machinery. Such disease is therefore often associated with working rather than being caught within a domestic environment. Vibration white finger is also known by some people as dead finger syndrome and hand arm vibration syndrome. The disease is a secondary form of a main disease, which is Reynauds disease. This disease is known to impact on many industrial workers which has les to many successful compensation claims against industrial organisations, mainly due to the organisation not providing satisfactory machinery or safety equipment. The name vibration white finger was given to the disease by the Industrial Injury Advisory Council in 1970; this after many complaints had been formally made. In recent times many compensation companies and solicitors have begun to offer legal services which are specialised towards securing compensation for the disease. The risk of catching this disease is the highest at frequencies between 5 and 150 Hz, although the disease can still potentially be caught between frequencies of 5 and 2000 Hz.
There are many symptoms associated with the vibration white finger disease, which can impact upon nerves, joints, muscles, blood vessels and connective tissue. One typical symptom of this disease is continual tingling or whitening of the tissue within a persons fingers. People are unlikely to feel this after a working day but may begin to feel this over a duration of time; those with only a mild form are likely to only feel the tingling in the top of a finger. People who have had excessive exposure may feel tingling stretching down the full finger. Fingers are also known to change colour and any feeling within the fingers can dramatically reduce or disappear totally. The change in colour within the fingers is to do with the damage to blood vessels. Intense red flushes are also common symptoms; this is a significant sign of blood returning to the fingers, this is usually an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. People with a severe case of the disease are likely to feel the disease in many conditions and also may begin to feel pain even when vibrating tools have not been used, for example in the cold and also during leisure activities. These symptoms may for some people only be temporary, although for some people the symptoms will be permanent with the total loss of feelings within some fingers being highly likely.
The surge in claims for vibration white finger was due to the amount of coal miners complaining of problems within their fingers. Investigations provided the extensive use of mechanical vibrating tools had caused this disease to occur. Due to this a government fund was set up to provide compensation to miners who had the disease, over 120 million pounds has been paid on in compensation to miners to date. Government legislation has also been put in place to ensure that workers are protected, and that the employing organisation is responsible for minimising the exposure and potential to gain vibration white finger.