Citation

Culvenor JF, Foster G. J. Health Saf. Res. Pract. 2010; 2(2): 3-10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Safety Institute of Australia, Publisher LexisNexis Media)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Motorcycles are used in the many occupations in Australia such as agriculture, courier services, postal delivery and police and results in exposure to whole-body vibration. Whole-body vibration exposure can be measured on the motorcycle seat, however, it can be expected that riders will sometimes lift themselves clear of the seat. The measurement on the seat only is therefore likely to be inaccurate. The aim of this study was to discover the relationship between seat-measured exposure and actual exposure. Vibration was measured simultaneously on the seat and on the rider for a range of terrain types. The results revealed that when riding on the seat that vibration dose values within about 10% of each other can be obtained by measuring vibration at the seat and on the rider. The results indicated that lifting clear of the seat increases seat vibration and decreases rider vibration. When lifting clear of the seat, the differences noted are large and indicate that the alternative method of measurement, on the rider, would be more meaningful. The small sample sizes in this study means that it is only indicative. However, it points toward the development of more meaningful analysis of whole body vibration caused by motorcycle riding.