Don't get saddled with backache
December 1st 2010 Back problems account for most time lost through sickness but steps can be taken to tackle the problem, says Steve Ridgway,Yale's strategic marketing manager
Costing UK employers £600 million a year, back pain or
musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is the single biggest cause
of sickness absence from work. A key causes is Whole Body
Vibration (WBV), which can impact forklift
truck operators.
EU directive 2002/44/EC obliges employers
of forklift truck operators to measure the
vibration levels that their operators are exposed
to during working operation and take action
where appropriate.
While maximum limits should not exceed
1.15m/s2, a much lower rate of 0.6m/s2 is
achievable by choosing the right product. Yale
has achieved industry leading whole body
vibration figures with the introduction of its
new full suspension seat fitted on its new
generation of electric counterbalance forklift
trucks and putting the operator's comfort at the forefront of
product design.
Operators are exposed to high levels of WBV commonly
because there are no adjustment settings available for operator
weight or the visibility of the function makes it hard to set.
Yale has addressed both of these issues by increasing the
vertical movement of its seat to 80mm and increasing the weight
range up to a maximum of 135kg while making the adjustment
of the seat easy to see and set.
The full suspension seat also incorporates a swivel feature for
reverse driving comfort, moving 12 degrees to the
right and 5 degrees to the left, minimising the risk of
over twisting or stretching when operating the forklift
in the reverse direction.
An upcoming high backrest and headrest with
lumbar support seat developed by Yale gives
operators whole back, neck and head support. A VMS
system linked to the seat produces data that records
the percentage of Daily Allowed Exposure
experienced by the operator with additional feedback
on operations and environment conditions that
generate high WBV levels. This identifies areas of
concern that can be addressed by the company to
ensure employee exposure is comfortably reduced.
In addition to weight, height and lumbar support, operators
can set the forward and aft seat position, relationship to the
steering wheel foot and hand controls and position of the arm
rests.
As a result of these added features, an ideal body posture is
maintained throughout the
operational shift. More articles from Yale Europe Materials Handling: | 
