Establishing a Protocol for the Measurement of Human Exposure to Foot-Transmitted Vibration

Foot-transmitted vibration (FTV) is defined as vibration exposure where the primary route of vibration transmission is through the feet. Individuals can be exposed to FTV through a vibrating platform that they stand on or from vibrating foot-operated controls. Workers exposed to FTV are at risk of suffering from vibration white-foot, an irreversible disease with vascular, neurological and musculoskeletal symptoms. In order to understand injury risk, the transmission of vibration from a vibrating surface into the foot can be measured. The international standards for the measurement of occupational vibration exposure (ISO 2631-1, 1997; ISO 5349-1, 2001) do not provide appropriate guidance for FTV exposure measurement. Although several researchers have reported worker exposure to FTV, the reliabilities of the methods used to measure FTV have yet to be studied.

The purpose of this thesis is to propose a reliable protocol for the measurement of FTV exposure (Vance FTV Measurement Protocol, V-FTVMP). Preliminary testing was conducted to examine how factors such as location of accelerometer placement on the foot, changes in standing posture, time of day that measurements are taken, and duration of measurement, influence measures of FTV exposure. These findings were translated into the V-FTVMP. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the proposed method for the measurement of FTV transmissibility were determined by testing the protocol with three raters and 12 participants. Transmissibility was measured at the toe as the ratio of vibration input (measured on the platform) to vibration output (measured on the surface of the toe), with values over one indicative of vibration amplification and less than one indicative of attenuation. Transmissibility was also calculated as a ratio at the ankle with input measured at the platform and output measured from the medial malleolus of the ankle. Mean un-weighted root-mean-squared (r.m.s.) accelerations (z-axis) for all accelerometer locations were calculated for all participants and found to be 13.01 m/s² (±0.87), 12.68 m/s² (±1.19), 8.23 m/s² (±2.24), and 16.05 m/s² (±3.81) for measures at the platform at the toe, platform at the ankle, toe at the first metatarsal head and ankle at the medial malleolus, respectively. The mean transmissibility for all participants was measured as 0.63 (±0.16) at the toe, and 1.27 (±0.30) at the ankle. The intraclass correlation tests showed good or acceptable reliability for all locations: platform location at the toe ICC =.83 (CI =.67 -.92), platform at ankle ICC =.82 (CI=.65-.92), toe ICC =.77 (CI =.37 -.81), ankle ICC =.60 (CI =.18 -.68). Based on the results of this study, it appears the V-FTVMP can generate reliable measures of FTV. Additional research led by independent groups is needed to confirm these results and to further validate the protocol.

Keywords: Vibration; standardization; standing; reliability; validation; measurement protocol

Year	Entry
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Year

Entry

1988

Sakakibara H, Akamatsu Y, Miyao M, Kondo T, Furuta M, Yamada S, Harada N, Miyake S, Hosokawa M. Correlation between vibration-induced white finger and symptoms of upper and lower extremities in vibration syndrome. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1988;60(4):285-289.

2001

Mechanical Vibration: Measurement and Evaluation of Human Exposure to Hand-Transmitted Vibration, II: Practical Guidance for Measurement At the Workplace. ISO Standard ISO 5349-2. [ISO Standard thesis]. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization; 2001.

1998

Matsumoto Y, Griffin MJ. Dynamic response of the standing human body exposed to vertical vibration: influence of posture and vibration magnitude. J Sound Vibrat. April 23, 1998;212(1):85-107.

2016

Morales-Orcajo E, Bayod J, Barbosa de Las Casas E. Computational foot modeling: scope and applications. Arch Comput Methods Eng. September 2016;23(3):389-416.

1998

Harazin B, Grzesik J. The transmission of vertical whole-body vibration to the body segments of standing subjects. J Sound Vibrat. 1998;215(4):775-787.