Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE Report No. 2018-0137-3385: Whole-Body Vibration Analysis of Golf Course Maintenance Tasks

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brueck, Scott E. ; Ramsey, Jessica G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from golf course management concerning maintenance employees' exposure to whole-body vibration. Employees reported pain or discomfort in their lower back, shoulders, neck, and knees, which they thought was related to excessive whole-body vibration while doing certain work tasks. We visited the golf course to learn more about health concerns and to measure whole-body vibration exposures. During our site visit, we observed work processes, work practices, and workplace conditions
  
  measured golf course maintenance employees' exposures to whole-body vibration
  
  and held confidential interviews with employees working during our visit. We found that most job tasks we evaluated were above the whole-body vibration dose value (VDV) action level. This could lead to employees potentially experiencing health risks. Employees reported pain or discomfort in their lower back, shoulders, neck, and knees. They also indicated that original equipment seats had been replaced with other manufacturers' seats when they wore out. This could contribute to pain and discomfort. We recommended reducing the amount of time spent on equipment, taking paths that are known to cause less vibration, providing proper replacement seats on equipment, reducing or eliminating rough and uneven areas of the cart paths through maintenance or replacement, establishing a schedule that rotates employees between job tasks, and encouraging employees to report health concerns they think are work-related to their supervisors.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Maintenance Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Vibration
• Keywords:
  Back Pain Equipment Operators Golf Course Golf Courses And Country Clubs Groundskeeping Groundskeeping Workers Grounds Maintenance Lawn And Garden Equipment Low Back Pain Maintenance Workers Mower Mowing OSHA Region 4 Outdoor Workers Vibration Exposure WBV Whole-body Vibration Whole Body Vibration

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201801373385
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  22 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Hamilton, Cheryl ; Moore, Kevin ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066074
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2022]. Whole-body vibration analysis of golf course maintenance tasks. By Ramsey JG, Brueck SE. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2018-0137-3385,
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  713910 - Golf Courses and Country Clubs - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aecc9f814b5b6d5790083327b158ae9247d70ec44049ad4710fc0e902a322a878de971ab4eb7177cdc5ab59f2c2bd8bcc20e911c9f93915554ca37506a289ad8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172313/cdc_172313_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 625.46 KB ]