Analysis of Whole-Body Vibration Exposure of Drill Machine Operators in Open Pit Iron Ore Mines

The purpose of this study was to evaluate health risks of blast-hole drill operators exposed to whole-body vibration (WBV), based on ISO standard 2631-1. Assessment of health risk associated with the blast-hole drill operators based on ISO 2631-1 criteria is limited. In the current study, operators’ WBV exposure was measured in accordance with ISO 2631-1 using a tri-axial seat pad accelerometer at the operator/seat interface. WBV exposure was evaluated along all three orthogonal axes by frequency-weighted RMS acceleration and vibration dose value. Result of the study shows that mean frequency weighted RMS acceleration along Z-axis is dominant as compared to X and Y axis. In the case of VDV exposure, the mean VDV along Z-axis is also higher as compared to X and Y axis however magnitude of mean vector sum of VDV is lower compared to the Z-axis. The predicted health risk of operators based on daily RMS exposure shows that only 3.6% of drill machine operators were found between the recommended upper and lower limit of health caution zone of ISO standard 2631-1. However, based on VDV evaluation method, all the drill machine operators were found above the recommended upper limit of health caution zone of ISO standard 2631-1. Thus, results observed in this study based on two methods for assessing the health risk of operators’ are quite similar depending upon the method applied.