Musculoskeletal disorders among occupational drivers caused by whole body vibration and awkward posture

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) can be caused by multifactorial workloads such as whole-body vibration (WBV), awkward posture and heavy lifting. Due to the complexity of field measurements, there is so far no epidemiological study investigating posture quantitatively. Therefore, we investigate the association between MSD outcomes and these exposures among 102 professional drivers by field measurements. At different workplaces the combined exposures of WBV and posture were measured for 58 professional drivers. These measured data were extrapolated for subjects with the same workplaces and job tasks. The CUELA measuring system was used to capture and analyse the exposure of the posture. Further, the percentage of time spent in a non-neutral angular range was used to describe the upper body posture. Health and personal data as well as information about psychosocial factors and lifting tasks were collected by a questionnaire. While an index for non-neutral posture shows significant association with the most MSD outcomes, daily vibration exposure value only effects lumbar spine disorder significantly. Also in case of sick leave, lifting and awkward posture appear to be more strongly associating than WBV exposure.