EHS Today online, a magazine for environment, health and safety leaders, published an interesting April 24, 2009 article comparing truck driver demographics to risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries. As in any job that requires long hours in a single position, long distance truck drivers are at increased risk for musculoskeletal injury on the job. According to a recent study by Atlas Ergonomics, truck drivers lose more workdays per musculoskeletal injury incident than any other group of workers. Fortunately, risk factors can be predicted and workers protected.
The three-year study of 28,301 commercial truck drivers was conducted from 2005 to 2008. Drivers were primarily engaged in driving and delivering loads with less than 10% of drivers’ activities involving the unloading of freight. A direct relationship was found between injury risk and the physical characteristics of the both the worker and truck cab. The driver population studied was predominately men of slightly taller stature and weight than average.
- The study found that height caused the greatest discomfort while driving. Taller drivers were forced to contort their bodies to fit into cab spaces, while shorter drivers had to stretch to reach controls.
- Weight, particularly obesity, significantly increased injury risk factors. Obesity increased driving discomfort to severe levels and, in many cases, resulted in sleep apnea and other sleep disorders that impaired alertness.
- Driver age was spread across all age groups from young, new drivers to near retirees. Discomfort increased with age and length of service, three to five years of seniority producing greater risk. Injuries to workers 65 and older resulted in longer work absences after injury.
- While women drivers constituted just 8% of the study group, their smaller stature resulted “in elevated levels of discomfort across all body parts,” according to study results. Muscular strength may also have played a role but was not specifically studied.
While operating material handling equipment is significantly different from long-haul trucking, there are important similarities when workers are forced to maintain steady postures for long periods of time or repeatedly perform the same actions over a shift. The findings of the Atlas Ergonomics study has instructive lessons for material handling equipment purchasers who want to decrease the risk of worker injury in their workplace. We’ll talk about that next time.