Whole-body vibration of ground preparation activities in forestry

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr636.pdf


The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (CoVWR 2005) place duties on employers to assess and control the risks from exposures to whole-body vibration. Long-term exposures to high levels of whole-body vibration have been associated with lower back injury. Exposure to vibration shocks is believed to be particularly damaging. Lower-back injuries are also associated with other ergonomic issues that may be present when workers are exposed to vibration, such as poor seating postures and manual handling. When considering whole-body vibration it is important that these other factors are also investigated.
Earlier work on whole-body vibration funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Forestry Commission (FC) had studied the vibration exposure from forwarders and harvesters [Pitts 2006] and the ergonomics of harvesters [Milne et al 2002]. The work reported here follows on from that earlier work, but looks at a different aspect of forestry work, ground preparation activities, where vehicles are used on a variety of off-road surfaces where exposures are likely to be high.