Vibration risks at work

The Court of Appeal has decided a case concerning an employee who had suffered occasional transitory exposure to vibration at work, some of which exceeded the accepted threshold level. It was held that the recorder who heard the case at first instance had not been entitled to conclude that the employers had been in breach of their duty of care through their failure to monitor the employee’s use of vibrating equipment, or to warn him of the potential effects on his health. The Court of Appeal held that infrequent and transitory exposures to vibration above daily guidance threshold limits did not give to a foreseeable risk of injury at common law, and the claim failed on the issue of breach of duty.