I’m picking up bad vibrations
An unexpected diagnosis changed Jason Johnstone’s life. But, he tells Esther AshbyCoventry, he wasn’t ready to allow the illness to strike down others.
A former smelter worker has spent $100,000 of his own money developing amonitoring device to prevent others from getting the little known disabling syndrome he has been diagnosed with.
Jason Johnstone had worked with power tools for most of his adult life when his fingers started going numb and pale. He ignored the problem despite dropping dishes and other items as he struggled to hold onto them.
Meeting his future wife, a general surgical registrar from the UK, about a year later in 2012 he received an unexpected informal diagnosis of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), a condition caused by repeated exposure to vibration, causing the nerve endings in the finger tips to go into vascular spasms restricting blood flow.
It can also affect joints and be exacerbated by working in the cold or damp and using power tools for extended periods of time.
‘‘She knew what it was straight away. It had been all over the UK in the 1990s with coal miners, it had cost companies billions. We’re way behind,’’ Johnstone said.
To stop other workers in industries such as agriculture, forestry and construction falling victim to the syndrome Johnstone has developed a vibration monitoring device using cloud based technology.
He set up the company, Vibration Action, in 2015, and with software and hardware developer 4Design in Queenstown designed awatch band and dashboard vibration monitoring device. It records hand and arm vibrations while using power tools and machinery, which can then be acted on.
Formally diagnosed by New Zealand’s leading workplace expert occupational health specialist Professor David McBride, he was transferred from his manual Tiwai Aluminium Smelter job in 2014 to an office role.
He has since been researching the problem and devising away of protecting otherworkers from it as well as raising awareness.
Johnstone, who now lives in Dunedin, is one of the very few people in New Zealand diagnosed with HAVS. Symptoms include tingling fingers, numbness, pain, weakness, loss of dexterity and impeded blood flow.
If caught early enough, HAVS can be reversible, according to WorkSafe, but not in Johnstone’s case, the damage is permanent and ‘‘life changing’’.
‘‘Business owners must protect their workers. My device makes it very simple and easy to protect employees from over exposure to workplace vibration,’’ Johnstone said.
They can see their employee exposure rates to vibration in real time 24/7, he said.
As an operator/trainer at the smelter he had been subject to ongoing vibrations for more than 15 years from driving ATVs on uneven ground and from heavy power tools used to clean carbon from anodes. As with many businesses, there was no time limit on working with such machinery.
Previously he had worked as a car painter, panel beater and fitter and welder which also included using some vibrating equipment.
Little information was available on the condition prompting Johnstone to do his own research.
ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) data on HAVS showed there were only 40 to 50 cases between 2000 and 2018 but 6230 cases were reported in the UK in half that time. ‘‘Even if we consider that the two workforces are similar, based on population
statistics the incidence in New Zealand should have been 785 cases in 18 years or 44 cases per year,’’ he told WorkSafe.
From 2008 to 2018, ACC data showed there were 5342 cases of carpal tunnel syndrome. Whereas in the United Kingdom there were 2930.
Johnstone did not think New Zealand doctors appeared to be trained to diagnose HAVS and may be misdiagnosing carpal tunnel instead, hence the numbers. Though according to overseas research, vibrations contribute to or cause 40 per cent of occupation-related cases of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
‘‘HAVS may be misdiagnosed because it can start in one finger but progresses to include all fingers, whereas carpal tunnel syndrome does not involve all of the fingers.’’
Since leaving the smelter, Johnstone has been writing Health and Safety policies for different companies and building his business. So far he has produced 12 prototypes of his vibration monitors.
The monitor costs $90 to purchase, then $1 a day to run.
No-one shouldwork on a low vibration machine for more than eight hours each day and no more than 10 to 30 minutes on high vibration equipment such as a jack hammer, he said.
Delta Utility Services in Dunedin is one of the companies trialling the vibration monitor.
Delta’s health and safety manager Matt Sadgrove said they had been helping Johnstone refine the device and trialled it for the past 18 months.
‘‘It’s great.There’s an awful lot of people using vibrating tools.’’
One of the contracting company’s roles is maintaining green areas for local authorities using rotary hoes and lawn mowers.
To ensure workers are not over-exposed to vibrations Delta has restructured some jobs and replaced some tools with ones that vibrate less.
‘‘It has helped us identify if there are issues and look for different products.’’
He said they had also invested in remote controlled mowers and robots.
‘‘(The monitor) can help us make better choices and prolong aworker’s work life, which is our best asset if we look after them.’’
WorkSafe NZ head of innovation Daniel Hummerdal said in a statement the trial was a great example of the ingenuity and motivation in New Zealand to create better outcomes for workers. On the WorkSafeNZ website it provides advice and information on the risks of exposure to vibrations.
Otago University occupational and environmental medicine associate Professor David McBride said New
Zealand needed the device and needed to invest in more research in the area of the workplace hazards of vibration exposure, WorkSafeNZ reported.
Johnstone was now looking for investment to further develop the monitor to include detecting falls, an SOS sensor and record body temperature so employers could see when aworkerwas stressed. He is seeking $200,000 to get it into production.
Business owners must protect their workers. My device makes it very simple and easy to protect employees from over exposure to workplace vibration.’ JASON JOHNSTONE