Investigation on Whole Body Vibration exposures of operators of construction vehicles

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the areas of increased comfort and reduced vibration exposure levels in construction vehicles. It is necessary to understand the level of Whole-Body-Vibration (WBV) exposure since it affects comfort and health performance of humans. Objective of this study is to investigate the exposure levels in operators of construction vehicles. In addition, preventive strategies, which are needed to reduce low back pain problems due to WBV, will be investigated. Ten operators of vehicles were selected where the vehicles were chosen so that those are vastly used in the construction sector. In this study, it was selected three construction vehicle types: excavators, backhoes and roller vibrators. A questionnaire survey was carried out with each operator regarding their profession, age, working experiences, health and exposure duration. The vibration exposure levels induced on operators bodies were measured using a tri axial vibration meter (SV 106) attached to a seat pad accelerometer. The operator was instructed to sat on seat-pad accelerometer and WBV exposures in three directions (i.e., vertical, fore-and-aft and lateral) were measured. It was found that the vibrational effect on vertical direction is more dominant than the other two directions (i.e., lateral and fore-and-aft). Measured vibration exposure levels were assessed based on recommendations given in ISO 2631:1997 and are presented in the paper.