Don't get saddled with backache

Back problems account for most time lost through sickness but steps can be taken to tackle the problem, says Steve Ridgway,Yale's strategic marketing manager

Costing UK employers £600 million a year, back pain or musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is the single biggest cause of sickness absence from work. A key causes is Whole Body Vibration (WBV), which can impact forklift truck operators.

EU directive 2002/44/EC obliges employers of forklift truck operators to measure the vibration levels that their operators are exposed to during working operation and take action where appropriate.

While maximum limits should not exceed 1.15m/s2, a much lower rate of 0.6m/s2 is achievable by choosing the right product. Yale has achieved industry leading whole body vibration figures with the introduction of its new full suspension seat fitted on its new generation of electric counterbalance forklift trucks and putting the operator's comfort at the forefront of product design.

Operators are exposed to high levels of WBV commonly because there are no adjustment settings available for operator weight or the visibility of the function makes it hard to set.

Yale has addressed both of these issues by increasing the vertical movement of its seat to 80mm and increasing the weight range up to a maximum of 135kg while making the adjustment of the seat easy to see and set.

The full suspension seat also incorporates a swivel feature for reverse driving comfort, moving 12 degrees to the right and 5 degrees to the left, minimising the risk of over twisting or stretching when operating the forklift in the reverse direction.

An upcoming high backrest and headrest with lumbar support seat developed by Yale gives operators whole back, neck and head support. A VMS system linked to the seat produces data that records the percentage of Daily Allowed Exposure experienced by the operator with additional feedback on operations and environment conditions that generate high WBV levels. This identifies areas of concern that can be addressed by the company to ensure employee exposure is comfortably reduced.

In addition to weight, height and lumbar support, operators can set the forward and aft seat position, relationship to the steering wheel foot and hand controls and position of the arm rests.

As a result of these added features, an ideal body posture is maintained throughout the operational shift.