scholarly journals Evaluation of Whole Body Vibration and Back Pain Problem among Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Drivers

2015 ◽  
Vol 773-774 ◽  
pp. 845-849
Author(s):  
Jalil Azlis-Sani ◽  
Muhammad Firdaus bin Zaid ◽  
Musli Nizam Yahya ◽  
S.M. Sabri S.M. Ismail ◽  
Noor Aqilah Ahmad Tajedi ◽  
...  

A cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate whole body vibration (WBV) and back pain problem among light rail transit (LRT) driver. This study was carried out to determine exposure level of whole body vibration and identify back pain problem due to whole body vibration exposure among LRT driver. Standardized Nordic questionnaire was used for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms, to identify the prevalence of back pain, information about health history, working time duration, and working experiences was obtained from 52 drivers of light rail transit (LRT) train. HVM 100 Larson Davis was used to measure whole body vibration measurement of eight LRTs with different vehicle number. The measurement of whole body vibration was done during operation working time. The data collected from HVM 100 were transferred to the Blaze software for getting the vibration magnitude of the experiment while data collected from survey were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for statistical analysis. The analysis of graph patterns and the differentiation of magnitude value from each LRT were studied to determine the exposure level of vibration. A high prevalence of back pain (82.7%) among LRT drivers was found and high daily exposure level was obtained. The finding showed that, there are relations between back pain and daily vibration exposure which resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.709, with significant at α = 0.05. In conclusion, it was expected that the individuals subjected to the high vibration levels would tend to report back pain.

Author(s):  
Ričardas BUTKUS ◽  
Gediminas VASILIAUSKAS

Occupational noise, hand-arm and whole-body vibration are the main human health risk factors in various economic activity sectors including agriculture. Workers of agricultural sector are usually under increased risk as their exposure to these risk factors is usually longer than reference 8 hours. Moreover, most agricultural activities are related with the processes which include multiple equipment and machinery therefore noise and vibration exposure analysis is a complex issue which is usually undeservedly simplified. This problem can be emphasized by statistical data provided by State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania. Occupational diseases registered for farmers, agricultural and forestry workers consist 16 % of all those registered in Lithuania. Four of five occupational diseases registered in Lithuania are related to vibration and noise (musculoskeletal (66 %) and hearing loss (13 %) and has the increasing tendency over the last years. These tendencies demand a deeper analysis of noise and vibration exposure of farmers and farm workers as obtained results could help to specify the strategy or procedure to reduce negative exposure effects. The results reveal that noise exposure level usually exceed exposure action value of 80 dBA while hand-arm and whole-body vibration exposure limit value of 1.15 and 5 m/s2 respectively.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassam A. Baig ◽  
Daniel B. Dorman ◽  
Ben A. Bulka ◽  
Bethany L. Shivers ◽  
Valeta C. Chancey ◽  
...  

Whole body vibration has been postulated to contribute to the onset of back pain. However, little is known about the relationship between vibration exposure, the biomechanical response, and the physiological responses of the seated human. The aim of this study was to measure the frequency and corresponding muscle responses of seated male volunteers during whole body vibration exposures along the vertical and anteroposterior directions to define the transmissibility and associated muscle activation responses for relevant whole body vibration exposures. Seated human male volunteers underwent separate whole body vibration exposures in the vertical (Z-direction) and anteroposterior (X-direction) directions using sinusoidal sweeps ranging from 2 to 18 Hz, with a constant amplitude of 0.4 g. For each vibration exposure, the accelerations and displacements of the seat and lumbar and thoracic spines were recorded. In addition, muscle activity in the lumbar and thoracic spines was recorded using electromyography (EMG) and surface electrodes in the lumbar and thoracic region. Transmissibility was determined, and peak transmissibility, displacement, and muscle activity were compared in each of the lumbar and thoracic regions. The peak transmissibility for vertical vibrations occurred at 4 Hz for both the lumbar (1.55 ± 0.34) and thoracic (1.49 ± 0.21) regions. For X-directed seat vibrations, the transmissibility ratio in both spinal regions was highest at 2 Hz but never exceeded a value of 1. The peak muscle response in both spinal regions occurred at frequencies corresponding to the peak transmissibility, regardless of the direction of imposed seat vibration: 4 Hz for the Z-direction and 2–3 Hz for the X-direction. In both vibration directions, spinal displacements occurred primarily in the direction of seat vibration, with little off-axis motion. The occurrence of peak muscle responses at frequencies of peak transmissibility suggests that such frequencies may induce greater muscle activity, leading to muscle fatigue, which could be a contributing mechanism of back pain.


Author(s):  
Raghu Ram Channamallu ◽  
Michael J. Jorgensen ◽  
Sara E. Wilson

Low back pain is one of the most costly and common musculoskeletal disorders, affecting up to 80% of the adults in their lifetime [1]. Whole body vibration (WBV) has been found to be a major risk factor in the etiology of low back pain with WBV increasing low back disorder risk from 1.2 to 39.5 fold depending on the occupational exposure duration and magnitude [2–3]. Recent research has demonstrated that exposure to sinusoidal whole body vibration of 5 Hz leads to increased propriceptive errors and delayed neuromotor response to external perturbation [4]. These results suggest a potential mechanism for low back injuries, namely that vibration may alter neuromotor control leading to poor stabilization and control of low back motion, increasing the risk of injury. However, the methods used to assess these changes in proprioception are static measures, require a good deal of equipment and setup time, and have a high variance, particularly with removal of electrodes and sensors, that make them impractical for the industrial setting. In addition, previous studies have only examined the effect of pure sinusoidal vibration exposure rather than the mixture of frequencies seen in occupational settings. Therefore, the goal of this project was to develop a dynamic measure of lumbar sensory accuracy and neuromotor control that could be used easily in the workplace and to examine the effects of WBV vibration on the measure using an occupationally-relevant vibration exposure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 773-774 ◽  
pp. 75-79
Author(s):  
Ahmad Fuad Mohd Noor ◽  
Musli Nizam Yahya ◽  
Mohd Imran Ghazali ◽  
Nor Azali Azmir ◽  
Hari Krishnan Tamil Selvan

Buses are one of the important public transportation in Malaysia and commonly important for the student in any university. Thus, the study about Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) exposure induces to Low Back Pain (LBP) among the Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) was done. The objective was determine whether the bus drivers in UTHM would exceed the exposure action and limit values from the ISO 2631-1 (1997) during the working hours. Data collected according to different type of buses and evaluated the vibration significant different between buses based on the subjective correlation due to WBV questionnaire analysis. Analyze the prevalence of LBP based on the measurement and the questionnaire analysis. The study based on the international standard ISO 2631-1 (1997) which is related to the root-men-square (r.m.s) and Vibration Dose Value (VDV) parameter. The study covered among the bus drivers in UTHM. The measurement tools involved in the study is Larson Davis Vibration Meter (HVM 100) with Tri-axial Seat Pad Accelerometer to record data collection. The BLAZE software analyze the vibration exposure exceed the total vibration exposure according to 8 hours day A(8) value of 1.15 m/s2 and VDV value of 21.0 m/s1.75. The IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to do statistical analysis and testing involved was correlation, regression and ANOVA. Result obtained shows the A(8) and VDV was under EAV with highest value of 0.520 m/s2 and12.65 m/s1.75. The highest contribution factors by the duration to complete single trip per day (α=0.500).The further re-assess of working schedule need to be done in order to control the exposure level toward drivers. The assessment should be done for every two years.


Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Rahul Upadhyay ◽  
Ashis Bhattacherjee ◽  
Aditya Kumar Patra ◽  
Nearkasen Chau

BACKGROUND: Dumper operators in mines worldwide are subjected to Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) due to whole-body vibration exposure. This study evaluated the working-life-Whole-Body Vibration (WBV)-exposure and their association with various MSDs among dumper operators in mines which remains poorly addressed. METHODS: This case-control study in Indian iron ore mines was conducted to compare randomly selected 65 dumper operators and 65 office workers. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and were analysed using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The study revealed that majority of the dumper operators were exposed to WBV exceeding the ISO-2631 limits. Compared with controls, the dumper operators had a much higher risk of upper back pain (age-overweight-adjusted odds ratio ORao = 5.37, 95%CI = 1.78–16.20), lower back pain (ORao = 2.72, 95%CI = 1.25–5.94), knee and leg pain (ORao = 3.68, 95%CI = 1.22–11.11), and having 2+ MSDs (ORao = 5.05, 95%CI = 1.88–13.51, vs. no MSDs). Working-life-WBV-exposure was higher among dumper operators having upper back pain (mean (SD) = 7.1 (1.91) vs. 5.7 (1.91), p <  0.01) and lower back pain (mean (SD) = 6.63 (2.10) vs. 5.55 (1.71), p <  0.01) compared to those without these MSDs. Older age was associated with higher risk of MSD pains. CONCLUSION: Dumper operators have excess MSDs due to high working-life-WBV-exposure. Their MSDs and working-life-WBV-exposure should be regularly evaluated and reduced.


Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-481
Author(s):  
P. Bossi ◽  
P. Meert

BACKGROUND: Whole-body vibration is a major cause of lower back pain among employees, and the medical and preventive care teams of occupational health departments are often confronted with lower back pain problems among machine operators. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this research are to determine the number of excavator drivers exposed to whole-body vibration levels above 0.5m/s2, identify other exposure factors that may contribute to back pain, and propose corrective measures. METHODS: Vibration measurements were carried out on individual excavator drivers while they were observed carrying out working tasks, after which prevention advice is given. Factors which determine vibration levels are logged on to a database. RESULTS: The multivariate analysis of several determining factors shows vibration exposure levels vary depending on the varied work tasks being carried out. CONCLUSION: This study identifies exposed employees among excavator operators. For each workstation, the determining factors that could explain the high exposures to vibrations are identified. This work shows the important role of tasks on exposure levels. A better adaptation of the tools used to carry out work tasks would allow a decrease in the vibration level of this type of machine.


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