Whole-body vibration exposure in metropolitan bus drivers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Johnson PW ; Lewis CA
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Back injuries are common in transit drivers, and can result in substantial direct and indirect cost to the employer and employee. Whole-body vibration (WBV) is one risk factor for drivers. Standards have been adopted (ISO 2631-1) to guide researchers in measuring and analysing WBV levels. Lately, a new standard has been added (ISO 2631-5) that takes impulsive exposures into account. AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine the levels of vibration for bus drivers using both ISO 2631-1 and 2631-5 standards, and whether there are differences in vibration levels and seat transmissibility between different road types. METHODS: Thirteen bus drivers drove a 7-year-old bus, instrumented to measure WBV in the seat and floor. The 52 km long test route included freeway, city streets and speed humps. Additionally, for comparison, a subset of five drivers also drove a car over the same route. RESULTS: Road type had a significant effect on all the vibration parameters. Based on exposure limit values in the standards, the continuous z-A (w)(8) exposures exceeded the limit value on freeways, and the impulsive z-VDV(8) and S (ed) exposures were above limit values in city streets and speed humps. Bus WBV exposures were about twice as high relative to the car and the bus seat amplified rather than attenuated WBV exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Bus drivers are potentially being exposed to daily vibration levels higher than recommended especially on certain road types. The current seat in this study does not attenuate the vibration. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Epidemiology Men Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Vibration Women

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Bus Drivers Back-injuries Bus-drivers Drivers Equipment-design Ergonomics Etiology Exposure-levels Humans Motor-vehicles Posture Questionnaires Risk-factors Vibration-exposure Whole-body Vibration

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• ISSN:
  0962-7480
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  62
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043560
• Citation:
  Occup Med 2012 Oct; 62(7):519-524
• Contact Point Address:
  C. A. Lewis, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105
• Email:
  lottisss@gmail.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Medicine
• End Date:
  20130831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1ee4cd73813098aeaf561213643ea9cabebfa2851d48fe20a1fbb2d46bcce18ce0e9c20b305fee7a344043b9a1360025c4f0118e8cd8f5881325c6658a7994c8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195434/cdc_195434_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 293.80 KB ]