Evaluating whole-body vibration reduction by comparison of active and passive suspension seats in semi-trucks

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blood RP ; Dennerlein J ; Johnson PW ; Lewis C ; Rynell P
• Description:
  Truck drivers have one of the highest injury rates in the US workforce with the majority of injuries occurring in the low-back. Exposure to Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is thought to be a significant factor. This study compared difference in WBV exposures in sixteen drivers who drove a semi-truck over a standardized test route with a passive (air suspension) and electromagnetic vibration cancelling (active suspension) seat. Tri-axial WBV measurements of average weighted vibration (Aw), Vibration Dose Value (VDV), and Static Compressive Dose (Sed) were collected and compared between the two seats. Vehicle speed and location was collected with GPS loggers. The results show when compared to the passive suspension seat, the active suspension seat reduced Aw (p<0.001) and VDV (p<0.001) vibrations exposures by roughly 50%, with impulsive exposures (Sed) being reduced by approximately 20% (p=0.02). Based on the results the active suspension seat appears to have the potential to substantially reduce an operator's exposure to WBV. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Men Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Vibration Women
• Keywords:
  Back-injuries Drivers Equipment-design Exposure-levels Humans Injuries Risk-factors Truck-drivers Trucking Vibration-effects Vibration-exposure

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• ISBN:
  9780945289395
• ISSN:
  1071-1813
• Publisher:
  Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Massachusetts ; Nevada ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046970
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting, September 19-23, 2011, Las Vegas, Nevada. Southwick SM, Litz BT, Charney D, Friedman MJ, eds. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2011 Sep; 55(1):1750-1754
• Contact Point Address:
  Ryan P. Blood, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Editor(s):
  Southwick SM; Litz BT; Charney D; Friedman MJ
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  Ohio State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20080901
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting, September 19-23, 2011, Las Vegas, Nevada
• End Date:
  20120831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0288f13520d550148eb37471e925c46936e7b0dfb4dbd499385583902237fb58ee9229a2061920e2e70fd52c7524123b538f0a7019fb1eeeb6039c890a9bde0a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202217/cdc_202217_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.20 MB ]