Assessment of continuous and impulsive whole body vibration exposures in heavy equipment mining vehicles

The purpose of the study was to collect, compare and contrast continuous [A(8)] and impulsive [VDV(8) and Sed(8)] WBV exposures in 190, 240 and 320 ton mining trucks in order to determine whether the WBV exposures were above ISO and European Union action limits whether there were any differences in injury risk prediction across the WBV exposure parameters. All exposure parameters showed that the z-axis appeared to be the predominant axis of exposure with no exposure differences across trucks, whereas the xand y-axis exposures differed and increased with truck size. In all trucks, the predominant axis A(8) and VDV(8) WBV exposures were below ISO and European Union (EU) action limits; however, all vector sum exposures were above action limits. In contrast, the Sed(8) WBV exposures were below ISO action limits. In conclusion, it appears that there is differential prediction of health risks between Sed(8) and the A(8) and VDV(8) WBV exposure parameters.