An analysis of whole-body vibration and hand-arm vibration exposure on the Danube ship crew

Abstract

This paper studies the WBV and HAV exposure on the crew members of river ships. All parameters (acceleration, frequency, exposure duration, etc) negatively influence the performance of the sailing staff. In order to study how the sum of these physical parameters, affect people's work, a full analysis was made on 11 subjects, on 2 river ships, navigating the Romanian Danube area in January 2019. The vibrations transmitted to the subjects were measured with Maestro 01dB. Also, the meteorological parameters were measured with the Kestrel 5000 Portable Weather Station. All parameters were measured on the main deck. Specific questionnaires were used to detect the negative influence of the transmitted vibrations. Subjects are aged between 42 and 61 years old, most of them are smokers and some of them have health problems. According to ISO 20283-5:2016, ISO 8041:2005, ISO 6954:2000, ISO 2631:2018 and Guide for crew habitability on ships: 2016, there are the following stipulated values for work spaces: maximum RMS level must be 0.214m/s2 (for habitability criteria HAB), 0.178m/s2 (for HAB +) and 0.143m/s2 (for HAB ++). Mean values measured for the whole body vibration were 1.2÷1.4m/s2. The average values of the weather parameters, during the entire route, were normal for this period: temperature - 11÷4°C, atmospheric pressure 970÷1015mbar, humidity 75÷80%, wind speed 10÷30km/h; visibility 1 km, but the extremely dense fog persisted 86.66% of the time. The questionnaire responses showed the presence of musculoskeletal problems in a vibratory environment. Working on a ship is extremely difficult, especially in unfavorable weather conditions. Low temperatures amplify the negative effects of vibrations. It has been found that the values provided by all ISO are far exceeded. Moreover, due to the fact that most ships are old, their operation generates vibrations harmful to physical health. For this reason, a renewal of the fleet is necessary.