RR766 - Whole-body vibration and ergonomics of driving occupations: Road haulage industry
Back disorders are the most common form of ill health at work. The exact cause of back pain is often unclear but back pain is more common in jobs that involve driving, especially over long distances or over rough ground. Driving exposes the vehicle's occupants to whole-body vibration, that may include the shocks and jolts that are believed to increase the likelihood of injury or pain in the lower back. However drivers may also be exposed to other risk factors for lower-back pain such as poor posture while driving and manual handling while loading and unloading goods. The Health and Safety Laboratory have developed a toolkit that screens for these other ergonomic risk factors for back pain from driving occupations as well as assessing whole-body vibration exposure.
The work specifically undertaken and reported here has involved applying the toolkit to drivers of road haulage vehicles. The occupations targeted were: road sweeper driver; refuse freighter driver; fire engine driver; landfill compactor operator; milk tanker driver; car transporter driver; and linesmen (driving Unimogs and Landrovers).
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 authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.
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