Executive Health and Safety

Whole-body vibration and ergonomics toolkit Phase 1 Prepared by the Health and Safety Laboratory for the Health and Safety Executive 2008

RR612 Research Report

Executive Health and Safety

Whole-body vibration and ergonomics toolkit Phase 1 A M Darby BSc(Hons) MSc CPhys MInsP Health and Safety Laboratory Harpur Hill Buxton SK17 9JN

The exact cause of back pain is often unclear but back pain is more common in jobs that involve certain tasks, one of which is driving. Driving exposes the vehicle’s occupants to whole-body vibration and in some cases shocks and jolts, factors which are believed to increase the likelihood of injury or pain in the lower back. The report describes a whole-body vibration and ergonomics toolkit that has been developed for use in assessing driving occupations.

The objectives of this report are:

n to provide a guide on how to approach the control of back pain due to occupational exposure to whole-body vibration and ergonomic risk factors;

n to invite recommendations on how the toolkit detailed in the report can be improved for the vehicles and occupations of interest; and

n to provide a specification for future whole-body vibration data collection activities.

This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.

HSE Books

© Crown copyright 2008

First published 2008

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to: Licensing Division, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ or by e-mail to hmsolicensing@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk

ii

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 11.1 Background ............................................................................................. 11.2 Development of the toolkit ....................................................................... 21.3 Aims of the report .................................................................................... 3

2 TOOLKIT - WHOLE-BODY VIBRATION.................................................... 5

3 TOOLKIT - ANTHROPOMETRIC DESIGN ASSESSMENT....................... 73.1 Taking measurements ............................................................................. 73.2 Calculating percentile ranges ................................................................ 103.3 Suitability of the cab for a specific operator ........................................... 10

4 TOOLKIT - POSTURE ASSESSMENT .................................................... 11

5 TOOLKIT - MANUAL HANDLING ASSESSMENT .................................. 15

6 TOOLKIT - MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS QUESTIONNAIRE ..... 19

7 FUTURE WORK ....................................................................................... 21

8 REFERENCES.......................................................................................... 23

APPENDICES .................................................................................................. 25

APPENDIX A. VIBRATION DATA FOR VEHICLES IN STUDY...................... 27

APPENDIX B. ANTHROPOMETRIC PROFORMAE AND SPREADSHEETS 65

APPENDIX C. POSTURE ANALYSIS ............................................................ 79

iii

iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The exact cause of back pain is often unclear but back pain is more common in jobs that involve certain tasks, one of which is driving. Driving exposes the vehicle’s occupants to whole-body vibration and in some cases shocks and jolts, factors which are believed to increase the likelihood of injury or pain in the lower back. The report describes a whole-body vibration and ergonomics toolkit that has been developed for use in assessing driving occupations.

The objectives of this report are:

o To provide a guide on how to approach the control of back pain due to occupational exposure to whole-body vibration and ergonomic risk factors.

o To invite recommendations on how the toolkit detailed in the report can be improved for the vehicles and occupations of interest.

o To provide a specification for future whole-body vibration data collection activities.

v

vi

Table 1.

Vehicle Cab Anthropometric Assessment Proforma v.1

Date …………………………. Location ………………………………………….

Vehicle Type ……………………………………………………………………

Driver …………………………………

Dimension (mm) Min Max Fixed User

v

h v h

Seat pan height at front

Seat pan depth (front to back)

Seat pan width

Back rest height

Back rest width

Head rest height

Top centre of seat back to top of steering wheel Seat pan to steering wheel (vertical) Top left of seat back to top of gear lever Top left of seat back to front of hand brake

Officer (1) …………………………….. Signed …………………………….

Officer (2) …………………………….. Signed …………………………….

Note: Shaded areas of table will not normally need to be filled in, however for some cabs this data may be useful.

9

29

Site/meas. no. 1/1Measurement date: 02/02/2005Tape/ID no: 1/8

Vehicle: Renault 370 dci (tipper truck)Seat: ISRI, no model number

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

30

Site/meas. no. 1/1 Vehicle: Renault 370 dci (tipper truck)

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-20-10

01020

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

05101520

y seat

-20-10

01020

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

05101520

z seat

-20-10

01020

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

05101520

x base

-20-10

01020

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

05101520

y base

-20-10

01020

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

05101520

z base

-20-10

01020

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

05101520

32

Site/meas. no. 1/2Measurement date: 02/02/2005Tape/ID no: 2/1

Vehicle: Renault 370 dci (tipper truck)Seat: ISRI, no model number

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

33

Site/meas. no. 1/2 Vehicle: Renault 370 dci (tipper truck)

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-10-505

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0

5

10

y seat

-10-505

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0

5

10

z seat

-10-505

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0

5

10

x base

-10-505

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0

5

10

y base

-10-505

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0

5

10

z base

-10-505

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0

5

10

35

Site/meas. no. 1/3Measurement date: 02/02/2005Tape/ID no: 2/2

Vehicle: Renault 370 dci (tipper truck)Seat: ISRI, no model number

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

36

Site/meas. no. 1/3 Vehicle: Renault 370 dci (tipper truck)

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-5

0

5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0

5

10

y seat

-5

0

5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0

5

10

z seat

-5

0

5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0

5

10

x base

-5

0

5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0

5

10

y base

-5

0

5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0

5

10

z base

-5

0

5

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

0

5

10

39

Site/meas. no. 2/1Measurement date: 21/04/2005Tape/ID no: 1/9

Vehicle: VW Diesel Transit LT35 TDiSeat: Conventional, no identification

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

40

Site/meas. no. 2/1 Vehicle: VW Diesel Transit LT35 TDi

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

5

10

y seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

5

10

z seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

5

10

x base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

5

10

y base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

5

10

z base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

0

5

10

43

Site/meas. no. 3/1Measurement date: 02/11/2005Tape/ID no: 1/6

Vehicle: Yale 032 counterbalance lift truckSeat: Conventional, no identification

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

x seat

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seat

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seat

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

44

Site/meas. no. 3/1 Vehicle: Yale 032 counterbalance lift truck

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-5

0

5

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

0

5

10

y seat

-5

0

5

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

0

5

10

z seat

-5

0

5

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

0

5

10

Site/meas. no. 3/2 Measurement date: 02/11/2005 Tape/ID no: 1/7

Vehicle: Yale 032 counterbalance lift truck Seat: Conventional, no identification

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

1

1 10 100 )

.

1

1 10 100 )

.

1

1 10 100 )

/ .

x seat

0.001

0.01

0.1

0.1 Frequency (Hz

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

0.1 Frequency (Hz

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

0.1 Frequency (Hz

Acc

. PS

D (m

s²)²/

Hz

y seat

z seat

46

47

Site/meas. no. 3/2 Vehicle: Yale 032 counterbalance lift truck

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-5

0

5

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

0

5

10

y seat

-5

0

5

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

0

5

10

z seat

-5

0

5

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

0

5

10

50

Site/meas. no. 4/1Measurement date: 22/11/2005Tape/ID no: 1/1

Vehicle: Leyland DAF 55 tipper truck (Y746 HKY)Seat: Conventional, no identification

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

. x seat back

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

51

Site/meas. no. 4/1 Vehicle: Leyland DAF 55 tipper truck (Y746 HKY)

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

y seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

z seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

x base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

y base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

z base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

x back

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

53

Site/meas. no. 4/2Measurement date: 22/11/2005Tape/ID no: 1/2

Vehicle: Leyland DAF 55 tipper truck (Y746 HKY)Seat: Conventional, no identification

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

. x seat back

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

54

Site/meas. no. 4/2 Vehicle: Leyland DAF 55 tipper truck (Y746 HKY)

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

y seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

z seat

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

x base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

y base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

z base

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

x back

-5

0

5

0 5 10 15 20 25

0

5

10

56

Site/meas. no. 4/3Measurement date: 22/11/2005Tape/ID no: 1/2

Vehicle: Leyland DAF 55 tipper truck (Y746 HKY)Seat: Conventional, no identification

Freq. increment: 0.125 Hz

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

. x seat back

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

x seatx seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

x frequencyresponsex coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

y seaty seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

y frequencyresponsey coherence

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Acc

. PS

D (m

/s²)²

/Hz

.

z seatz seat base

0.1

1

10

0.1 1 10 100Frequency (Hz)

Mag

nitu

de .

0

0.5

1

Coh

eren

ce

z frequencyresponsez coherence

57

Site/meas. no. 4/3 Vehicle: Leyland DAF 55 tipper truck (Y746 HKY)

x-axis: time (minutes) y-axis (left): unweighted accel. (m/s²) y-axis (right): cumulative VDV (m/s1.75)

x seat

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10

y seat

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10

z seat

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10

x base

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10

y base

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10

z base

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10

x back

-10-505

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

0

5

10