Investigation of human body vibration exposures on haul trucks operating at U.S. surface mines/quarries relative to haul truck activity

Abstract

Workers who operate mine haul trucks are exposed to whole-body vibration (WBV) on a routine basis. Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (PMRD) investigated WBV and hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposures for mine/quarry haul truck drivers in relation to the haul truck activities of dumping, loading, and traveling with and without a load. The findings show that WBV measures in weighted root-mean-square accelerations (aw) and vibration dose value (VDV), when compared to the ISO/ANSI and European Directive 2002/44/EC standards, were mostly below the Exposure Action Value (EAV) identified by the health guidance caution zone (HGCZ). Nevertheless, instances were recorded where the Exposure Limit Value (ELV) was exceeded by more than 500 to 600 percent for VDVx and awx, respectively. Researchers determined that these excessive levels occurred during the traveling empty activity, when the haul truck descended down grade into the pit loading area, sliding at times, on a wet and slippery road surface caused by rain and overwatering. WBV levels (not normalized to an 8-h shift) for the four haul truck activities showed mean awz levels for five of the seven drivers exceeding the ISO/ANSI EAV by 9–53 percent for the traveling empty activity. Mean awx and awz levels were generally higher for traveling empty and traveling loaded and lower for loading/dumping activities. HAV for measures taken on the steering wheel and shifter were all below the HGCZ which indicates that HAV is not an issue for these drivers/operators when handling steering and shifting control devices.

An investigation of musculoskeletal discomforts among mining truck drivers with respect to human vibration and awkward body posture using random forest algorithm

“…Mayton et al investigated the exposure to human vibration among haul trucks operators. They reported that some haul truck drivers exposed to WBV higher than the ELV according the ISO recommendation (Mayton et al, 2018). In a cross‐sectional study, WBV in graders, bulldozers, and drill machines were reported about 2.791, 1.738 , and 0.479 m/s 2 , respectively so that the human vibration in most mining machines is higher than the recommended levels (HashemiNejad et al, 2017).…”

Development of ergonomics audits for bagging, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in mining

“…Whole-body vibration (WBV) and hand-arm vibration exposures were measured for seven drivers from four different surface quarry mine sites (2 limestone, 1 sandstone, 1 copper). Mayton et al (2016) provide detailed findings of the exposure levels, but overall many of the measurements were below consensus standards with the exception of two mine sites where haul roads were rougher and led to higher vibration levels. Whole-body vibration levels were also higher when the trucks were traveling empty compared to traveling while loaded.…”

Assessment of whole-body vibration exposure of mining truck drivers

“…The authors emphasized the discrepancy between the two standards. Mayton, Jobes, and Miller (2008) and Mayton et al (2018) found that old trucks gave higher vibration values, with the vibration acceleration in the Z-axis being dominant. An evaluation of the WBV and GPS position data revealed that most of the shocks occurred during loading and unloading, and from the potholes in the road.…”