Assessment of Exposure to Whole-Body Vibration of Dozer Operators Based on Postural Variability

The main aim of this work is to evaluate whole-body vibration (WBV) of dozer operators based on three sitting postures (i.e., with 15° lean forward inclination posture, vertically erect posture with no inclination, and with 15° lean backward inclination posture) in Indian surface coal mines. A seat pad tri-axial accelerometer was used to collect WBV data from six dozer operators for three different sitting postures. Results showed that except for Dozer-1, 2, 4, and 5 operators during lean forward sitting posture and Dozer-4 operator during vertical erected posture, no other dozer operators have exceeded an exposure limit value (ELV) of 1.15 m/s2 in any of the considered sitting postures. Similarly, the vibration dose value (VDV) based on exposure action value (EAV) of 9.1 m/s1.75 has surpassed for all the dozers. But no dozer operator has exceeded an exposure limit value of 21 m/s1.75. The outcome of the study infers that based on “above health guidance caution zone (HGCZ)” for daily vibration exposure, i.e., A(8) measurements, for the operator sitting in lean backward postures the vibration amplification was reduced by 32.89% less compared with lean forward posture and 16.23% less when compared with vertically erected posture. Similarly, based on VDV(8), the exposure to vibration for the lean backward posture was reduced by 33.34% when compared with lean forward posture and 17.11% less when compared with vertically erected posture. Based on the above observation, it is concluded that lean back inclination with a trunk flexion of 15° is a favorable sitting posture, as it exposes the dozer operators to minimum vibration.