Shame of Stockton Council

In just over 12 months Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has paid out just under £350,000.00 alone in compensation to eight of their employees who have suffered vibration white finger, and in some cases carpal tunnel syndrome, as a result of their employment with the Council.

In the latest case to be settled by Archers Law, a TGWU member, John Briggs, has been awarded compensation of £50,000.00. Angela Torrance, the Solicitor at Archers Law who has acted for the eight men, said, “Mr Briggs is a 48 year old tarmacer who has worked with the Council since he was 28 years old. During these years he worked daily with vibratory tools, including pneumatic drills, stihl saws and whacker plates. Sadly he has gone on to develop vibration white finger, and can no longer use these tools, and experiences pain in his hands, particularly when working outdoors in the cold weather.”

John Briggs said, “I have really enjoyed my job working for the Council for the last 26 years. I enjoy working outdoors, and working with my hands. I am worried that these are the two things which my hand condition will permanently affect. I worked with a team of men all doing the same type of work, who became my mates over the years. The majority of my mates who were diagnosed as suffering from VWF are no longer employed by the Council, and had their employment terminated because of their hand problems. These men, who had all worked for the Council for a long time, had been replaced by the Council with agency workers. I am concerned that now my case has settled the Council will end my employment too.”

Angela Torrance of Archers Law states: “Sadly for Mr Briggs, he is now suffering from an injury to both hands which is permanent and from which he will suffer from every day. By 1976 his employers had the responsibility to take precautions to prevent such hand damage occurring to any of their employees. It is extremely disappointing, that an organisation such as the Council appear to have only started to take this health and safety issue seriously over the last few years. I am amazed, that even now not all of their employees, who have used these tools over the years, have had any medical screening. For a public authority this health and safety situation is extremely alarming. These precautions should have been taken over 20 years ago. It appears that it is only after these claims have been pursued and large sums of compensation paid out by the Council, and pressure being exerted by the TGWU, that any health and safety changes had actually taken place.”

Angela Torrance further said, “Stockton Council is boasting that it has earned an excellent classification in an annual nation wide comprehensive performance assessment for the second year running. Only last week, Councillor Gibson, commending Council’s employees for their part in achieving the success is quoted as saying “much of our success is the result of the effort and dedication that goes into making every service work”. (*The source of this, is the Stockton on Tees Borough Council’s website). Angela said “highway maintenance is part of that service, the way in which the Council has treated these employees shows little support and dedication on the Council’s part, and is a long way from being an ‘excellent’ employer in my opinion!”

Angela Torrance said, “Compensation cannot properly compensate Mr Briggs and his colleagues for the pain and the restrictions this condition causes. It cannot adequately compensate them for the loss of a secure job which they took pride in. A number of these claimants have been offered unsuitable alternative lower paid jobs, and some have been offered no alternative employment whatsoever.”

The Transport & General Workers Union is regularly representing these men in capability proceedings in which the Council argue that they are no longer fit to do the job, because of the hand symptoms which the Council has caused. Usually their employment ends, and in such situations the Union has managed to secure them a sick benefit pension, to try to ease some of the blow.

Tim Bush, Regional Industrial Organiser of the Transport & General Workers Union said “it is unfortunate that these Members have found themselves effectively jobless with little prospects of being able to carry out the employment for which they were trained, and clearly their employer is to blame”.

Angela Torrance of Archers Law said, “Mr Briggs case settled before it was due to go to trial in January 2005. This is the latest in a number of cases in which I have received compensation from the Defendants. Sadly there is more to come, with even younger men involved, who have also lost their jobs.”

In January 2004 Archers Law act on behalf of five TGWU members, who were Council workers, whose case settled at the Court door. One of these Claimants, Mr Harold Davies, said, “My case settled in January 2004. I was still working for the Council then as a paviour, and made sure I reduced the daily exposure to vibration myself, even though my employers had not instructed me to do so. In February 2004 I was called into a meeting at work, and was told that they had decided I couldn’t work as a paviour any more. They offered me the job as a street cleansing operative. I was unsure as to why they offered me this job, as it involved driving and I did not have a driving licence. Also I would have been paid a lot less money. They finished me on the grounds of sickness capability. I had worked for the Council as a paviour since 1990, and was devastated that they had finished me just weeks after the case settled. Since February 2004 I have been self-employed, but have only managed to obtain 14 weeks work. I feel totally let down by Stockton Borough Council and their tactics.”

In October 2003 the Gazette reported on a local man who received £125,000.00 compensation from the Council for the same hand problems. This was the lead case of the cases which Archers Law are pursuing on behalf of the TGWU members. Angela Torrance said, “This may seem like a large sum of compensation, but this 52 year old man, who had worked at the Council since 1974, also had his employment terminated, and was not even offered alternative duties. He continues to suffer pain daily due to his hand problems, and has not yet been fit to return to any type of work.”

Vibration White Finger is a disease caused by exposure to vibration and affects workers using vibratory, rotating or percussive hand guided power tools. Exposure to such vibration can damage the fingers, hands and arms causing impaired blood circulation, damage to nerve supply and musculoskeletal damage. Symptoms include tingling sensation and numbness or whiteness of parts of the fingers, which can become worse in cold weather. More severe symptoms include severe loss of grip strength and reduced dexterity. Sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome complain of pain in their arms which is so severe that it causes them to wake up at night. Many sufferers also have to undergo painful surgery to improve their pain.

One of the regions leading industrial disease experts Angela Torrance of Archers Law explains: “Vibration White Finger, is a widespread hazard, with over 1 million UK workers exposed to vibration over the Health and Safety Executive action limit. Although the effects were recognised as early as the 1970s many employers are failing to reduce the risk of exposure, this has resulted in a huge increase in cases during the last few years.”

Angela warned that employers must act now and protect their employees from further developing these disabling conditions. She added, “The most alarming piece of evidence is that workers who use vibration tools repetitively without the recommended precautions can develop permanent symptoms of VWF in as a few as 2 years. As a practice Archers are seeing more and more young people coming forward, many of whom are in their early thirties, this along with a major increase in cases, and the severity of the symptoms, has caused us to actively push up the level of compensation awarded.”

If insurance companies are faced with paying out larger sums of money on a repeated basis, they may just force the employers to really improve their health and safety, rather than paying lip service to it.