Thompson & Co have many years of experience in pursuing claims for Vibration White Finger (Often referred to as Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome).
This resulted in success for our clients and has led to a compensation scheme being set up from which thousands of ex-miners will benefit.
Thompson & Co. were one of only 5 firms of solicitors that made up the British Coal Vibration White Finger Steering Committee.
In order to succeed with a claim for Vibration White Finger against an employer you will need to prove that your employer was negligent or in breach of his statutory duties by exposing you to vibration without adequate protection and that this led to you suffering injury.
You will need to provide evidence (usually in the form of witness statements) that you used vibrating tools on a regular basis. It is also often necessary for us to arrange to obtain evidence from an engineer to confirm that the levels of vibration were sufficiently high that your employer should have been taking steps to protect you.
Medical Assessment
Subject to our confirming we consider you have reasonable prospects of success we will normally arrange for you to undergo a medical assessment with a consultant to confirm whether the symptoms you suffer are related to your exposure to vibration.
Time Limits
You usually only have 3 years to issue court proceedings from the date you become aware that you are suffering from a significant injury and connect this to your employment. Since Vibration White Finger is a progressive disease and comes on over a period of time it is often difficult to tell exactly when the time limit will have started to run against a claim. The court has the power to allow a claim to proceed outside of the 3 year time limit in some circumstances.
The court is unlikely to waive the 3 year time limit if it considers that any delay in pursuing a claim has led to the ability to fairly dealing with the claim being affected. If you contact us we will advise you when we believe the time limits in your claim started to run and when we consider any court proceedings should be started to protect your position.
