Whole-body vibration is monitored preventively

Whole-body vibration is the vibration to which vehicle operators are subjected during their workday in an industrial operation.

When these vibrations are above the limits established by the Occupational Hygiene Standard (NHO-09) and protection and risk control actions are not taken, they can bring a series of negative consequences to the operator’s health, among them, problems in the dorsal and lumbar region, gastrointestinal, reproductive system, disorders in the visual system, problems in the intervertebral discs and degeneration in the spine.

To identify the need for intervention in this type of equipment and the vibration generated, the occupational hygiene teams periodically perform measurements by sampling.

However, with the intention of providing continuous monitoring to identify in advance the changes of vibrations that arrive at the operator’s seat and working preventively, Dynamox in partnership with customers developed a monitoring system with wireless sensor, the Dynalogger AS, easy to install that can be applied to any mobile equipment.

In this type of work, the standard establishes criteria and procedures for evaluating operator exposure to whole-body vibrations, with the main focus on risk prevention and control.

As the normative makes an analysis by sampling and in pre-established periods, for this case, the Dynamox sensors proved to be an excellent tool for continuous monitoring of the vibration of these seats, as well as the causes of the problem.

How the monitoring of the seat happens

To monitor the impacts of vibration on the operator, the sensor was installed in the driver’s seat, identifying and collecting all types of vibration that his entire body is subjected to.

With this application, it is possible to identify the need for intervention, either in the seat or in other parts of the vehicles. With the data analysis done longer ago, alert points were also identified in which the most recurrent problems are: the specific need for maintenance on the seat, road conditions, suspension calibration, and the bashing.

So, with this information, it is possible to create automated alerts that signal the need for action/maintenance during data collection, and can facilitate the creation of automated dashboards that complete a management screen in the view of an asset monitoring center.

Dynalogger AS, in addition to vibration, captures local temperature information, and can signal other issues such as air conditioning that also affects the driver’s routine and performance during the activity. The collection of this data can be automated by Gateways or even by the DynaPredict mobile application.

Request more information and find out how Dynamox sensors can contribute to your operation and especially minimize risks to operators and maintenance costs.

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Source: Vale