Vibration White Finger
Vibration White Finger (VWF), otherwise known as hand-arm vibration syndrome and dead finger, is an industrial injury caused by repetitive use of vibrating hand-held machinery such as pneumatic drills.
Common sufferers include coal miners, quarry workers and building labourers.
Affecting the nerves, joints, muscles, blood vessels or connective tissues of the hand and forearm, VWF causes whiteness and either tingling or numbness in the fingers because the blood vessels periodically spasm causing a constriction of the blood supply.
Exposure to cold will invariably cause VWF to flare up and warming the hands back up will ease the spasms.
VWF is a cumulative disorder so the longer a sufferer uses vibrating hand-held machinery, the more severe the case will become. In some cases fingers are lost all together.
VWF was officially recognised as an industrial disease in 1985 and in 1997 over £125,000 in compensation was awarded to seven miners by the Miners High Court. The Government quickly set up a fund to cover more claims from miners and it has since paid out over £100m for VWF and £284m for respiratory claims.
However, many claims were either undersettled or money was deducted from compensation by firms representing miners.
Many miners could still be due further compensation – as much as £10,000 – for undersettled claims or because their solicitor deducted money.
Any miner – or any family member of a miner – should have their original claim for VWF or other mining related illness under the Government’s Coal Health Compensation Scheme reviewed by a professional negligence specialist to see if they are entitled to further compensation.
Tags: dead finger, hand-arm vibration syndrome, vibration white finger, vwf