Investigations of the interactive effects of noise and whole-body vibration on task performance have been dogged by such problems as the direct effects of vibration on control and the resistance of simple tasks to the environmental stress. The paper describes an attempt to overcome some of these problems and at the same time to consider conditions of practical relevance. Subjects were exposed to heat, noise, and vibration singly and in combination. The environmental magnitudes were typical of some occupations and exposure duration was approximately 6 h. Subjects were asked to perform a visual vigilance and decision making task, a visual monitoring and decoding task, and a battery of simple tasks. The former tasks were designed to place a significant cognitive load on the subject and strategy was emphasized by performance of both tasks at the same time. The tasks had relevance to a real work situation that the subjects were used to. Subjective and physiological measurements were also taken. The paper will present the results of the series of experiments just completed.
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