Tens of thousands of British workers suffer from industrial diseases caused by using hand held vibrating machinery as part of their jobs.

Machinery such as chainsaws and pneumatic and power drills can cause " target="_self" Vibration White Finger , which is the vascular component of Hand Arm Vibrating Syndrome, or HAVS.

While doctors are not completely sure as to exactly how the vibrations in the machinery cause HAVS, it is thought that they cause small but repetitive injuries to blood vessels, which accumulate over time.

About 10 per cent of workers who use vibrating machinery are believed to suffer from HAVS. It is a type of Raynaud’s Disease, and it causes white fingers, numbness and tingling. It is important not to underestimate the negative effects that the condition can have on sufferers – an attack of the illness can last for hours at a time and can put a painful end to leisure activities.

What are the symptoms of Vibration White Finger? They include a person’s fingers turning white and a loss of grip strength. In cold weather the effects can often be worse and the injury becomes even more painful as blood begins to return to the fingers, causing them to turn red or even blue.

Often victims of Vibration White Finger are tempted to play down the condition, believing it to be a minor disease – but in fact it is an injury that can develop until it affects whole fingers. People have also begun to develop it years after they stopped using the machinery itself.

Often the painful symptoms are brought on not while actually using the machinery, but in cold or wet situations. It is believed coffee, cigarettes and some other drugs can exacerbate the condition, while exercise and keeping warm can help to keep the symptoms at bay.

Women should be particularly careful as they have nine times more chance of developing the condition than men.

HAVS and Vibration White Finger hit the headlines after the Government launched a compensation programme for former miners who had developed the disease. By 2004 more than £100 million had been paid out.

The example demonstrates that VWF compensation is available and, if you use vibrating machinery as part of your job and have not been made aware of the possible side effects that you could well have a case to make a compensation claim.

Sometimes compensation can be the only way to recover lost earnings and to help to recover from the stress that the disease inevitably brings with it.