Safety Topic: HAVS and Symptoms of HAVS
Posted by: bryan in Untagged on
Dec 8, 2009
You may be asking yourself right now, "What is HAVS?". For those of you that have repeated exposure to vibrating hand-held or stationary tools during the course of a work day HAVS is important to know about and understand in prevention of workplace health risks.
HAVS, or Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome, is a potentially debilitating health condition caused by repeated exposure to vibrating hand tools. Symptoms of HAVS can affect the circulatory and nervous systems and may include, numbness, pain, white fingers, and loss of dexterity. More severe symptoms of HAVS include, crippling, bone disease or gangrene.
HAVS is reversible in its early stages, however, continued exposure can lead to the loss of effective hand function or the death of a finger. To learn more about how employers can train vibration tool operators in the prevention of HAVS, access our site for tomorrow's blog, "Prevention of HAVS in the Workplace".
