Driving posture is important to determine the comfortability of the driver. The purpose of this study is to investigate the muscle response in car pedal operation. To evaluate this response, 11 volunteers involved in simulated driving experiment using an electrical impedance myography to detect the muscle contraction of the lower leg, particularly at Gastrocnemius medial (GM). The driver requires to perform different pedal actions. The results depict that GM muscle shows different reaction according to pedal actions. According to these results, different degree of ankle angle lead to different muscle response. These findings help us to understand the effect of physical attribute related to muscle response and joint angle on driver during monotonous driving task.
Discomfort and pain issue at the body part are common complaints reported by car drivers. It is due to driving task
require physical demands and need to maintain and adapt several postures in a constrained space while controlling
the car. Hence, this study aims to determine the pattern of shoulder activation muscle consisting of the Trapezius
muscle in two different driving posture. Respondents were required to grasp the steering wheel at 8 and 4 hand
position. The Surface Electromyography was used to get the reading for left muscle’s Trapezius Descendent (TD) at
two different positions; i) closest distant from steering wheel and ii) far distant from the steering wheel. Then,
Temporal Analysis was used to evaluate the pattern of the driving action. From the experiment, it shows the
different value of muscle activation occurred while driving according to turning action. The far seated position
depicted greater activation on driving action compared to the closer seated to the steering wheel. In conclusion, the
driving posture effects the activation of shoulder and arm’s muscles as early as after 20 seconds of driving activity.
Hence, choosing the correct driving posture allowed a comfortable driving environment for the driver.
Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable when compared to large vehicles on the road. This study was conducted to gather feedbacks from motorcycle deliveryman regarding their riding conditions. A self-rated questionnaire was used to determine prevalence of riding symptom and its association with Whole Body Vibration and other associated factors among motorcycle deliveryman in Malaysia. A set of questionnaire was developed, pilot tested for its reliability and validity and distributed to 100 respondents. An interview was conducted after gathering the data from the respondents through the questionnaire. Survey findings show majority of the respondents preferred to ride according to the standard riding posture. Large majority of them agreed handlebar and foot peg/rest exposed them directly to the vibration. In addition, majority of them felt discomfort at the lower back and felt fatigue after long hours of riding. These findings are in-line with past studies regarding the road users.
Introduction : Shift work is practised in manufacturing industry to increase production capacity up to three times compared to the normal daily eight hours working system and able to optimize the utilization of machine and equipment. However, shift work has negatif effects on human social interaction, health and safety.
Methodology : The study was conducted to evaluate production workers’ perception on the effects of working at night shift. The respondents of the study were production workers in Company X in Kuala Lumpur. The Data was collected using self administered questionnaires. The study objectives was to study the work schedule design, to find out their perceptions on the effects of night shift and to study on personal factors, employees’ level of acceptance on the work schedule design and personal factors that cause safety and health disruption.
Result : A total of 200 production workers participated in the study. The result of the study shows 61% of production workers took sick leave and 43.5% were absent between 1 and 2 times a month. In terms of health and safety disruption, 77% of respondents agreed that they faced lack of focus with family and friends, 75.5% of them did not have enough sleep and 76.5% felt sleepy during working time. Regarding the work schedule and workstation design, 81.5% said they felt uncomfortable because they were required to stand during working and 77% felt that the resting period provided by the factory was too short and inadequate. More than 70% of the respondents proposed the rest period should be extended from the current 40 minutes to one hour. More than 80% of respondents agreed they would feel comfortable if standing at work is changed to sitting work system.
Conclusion : To minimize the unwanted effect of night shift among the production.
Measuring discomfort towardthe car seat is important as the act of driving requires a driver to remain at the car seat
while controlling the car. The seat condition, including sitting position as well as the driver’s posture can lead to
discomfort and fatigue. The objective of this study is to investigate a driver’s pressure distribution in static and
dynamic circumstances for two types of cars; the sedan and compact car. This study involved both subjective and
objective evaluations of 12 respondents. For the subjective evaluation, the Visual Analog Scales (VAS) were used to
obtain respondents' perception of discomfort. For the objective evaluation, pressure distribution readings of the seat
interface were obtained using piezo capacitive sensors. The findings showed that the highest pressure was recorded
for the compact car. Furthermore, the static circumstance showed greater pressure compared to the dynamic state.
Subjective evaluation indicated that the right buttocks and the lower back (lumbar)experience the highest discomfort
for both types of seats.The type of seat found to contribute to the value of different pressure. Thus, it can be
concluded that appropriate seat selection can reduce pressure as well as discomfort.
While driving, a driver is required to control the steering wheel to change direction. The driver’s muscles of the upper
limbs and shoulders are involved in such a task. Therefore, an assessment of the driver’s physiology according to
certain condition is necessary to improve driving comfort and safety. This study aims to investigate the driver’s
Deltoid Anterior (DA) muscle activity while operating the steering wheel. Eleven test subjects were recruited for an
experiment using a car simulator. They were required to remain in the car seat and perform the task of steering the
wheel. Surface electromyography (SEMG) was used to record each subject’s muscle contraction while turning the
steering wheel to the right and left by several degrees. According to the findings, 45 degrees turning recorded the
highest Root mean Square (RMS) value for DA. In addition, DA muscle activation increased with more degrees turning.