A comparison of whole body vibration exposures between a cab-over and conventional flat bed truck

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blood RP ; Johnson PW
• Description:
  Objective: The goal of this study was to compare whole-body vibration (WBV) exposures between a cab-over and conventional flatbed truck. Research has indicated there is a relationship between working as a truck driver and the development of low back pain. Methods: Using a repeated measures design and a standardized test route, whole body vibration exposures were compared when 13 experienced flatbed truck drivers drove two vehicles: 1) a European-style flatbed truck where the drivers are situated directly over the front wheels (cab-over design), and 2) a North American-style flatbed truck where the cab is situated behind rather than over the front wheels. Both vehicles were analyzed with the stock seats that came with the vehicles and the standardized test route consisted of a section of freeway and two sections of city streets. A tri-axial seat pad accelerometer was mounted on the driver's seat, and a second tri-axial accelerometer was securely mounted on the floor of the vehicle. A WBV data acquisition system was used to collect raw (raw (+) peak, raw (-) peak, Ok, Sed) and time weighted average (Aw, VDV, TWA peak) tri-axial WBV measurements at the seat and floor. Resutts: When compared to the vibration measurements at the floor, the seats in both vehicles were shown to significantly attenuate WBV exposures. When comparing vehicle types, there were significant differences in WBV exposures with the cab-over design flatbed having higher WBV exposures. Conclusions: Long-term WBV exposure has been linked to occupationally related low back pain. When selecting vehicles for professional drivers it is important that employers consider the associated WBV exposure differences between different types/classes of vehicles. The results of this study indicated that, relative to vehicles where the cab was situated behind the front wheels, vehicles with a cab-over design may increase occupational WBV exposures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Men Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Vibration Women
• Keywords:
  Back-injuries Body-mechanics Equipment-design Equipment-operators Exposure-levels Humans Motor-vehicles Risk-factors Truck-drivers Trucking Vibration-effects

  More +
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  42
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046959
• Citation:
  AIHce 2010: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 22-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado. Falls Church, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2010 May; :42
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20080901
• Source Full Name:
  AIHce 2010: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 22-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado
• End Date:
  20130831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:678efb38fde4cc807f196148aa45415828b6ca0c21c60333bfe88d18057ef31b0bbf282e9782b6161393399e974955dea563b7063e0824f74ba0b993e9bee045
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202211/cdc_202211_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.21 MB ]