PUBLIC TRANSPORT: WHOLE-BODY VIBRATION AND COMFORT OF PASSENGERS, DRIVERS AND COLLECTORS

The whole-body vibration (WBV) is present in several vehicles, including city buses. Excessive exposure is associated with the risk of disorders in the lower back. This study aimed to evaluate the exposure of drivers and passengers to the VCI. It was used the ISO-2631-1997 as a reference standard for evaluation, and the occupational limits of European Directive (2002). There was overcoming the level of action, according to the basic method, the three axes for both the collector and to the bus driver. Overcoming the threshold level, second the method of the fourth power, occurred on the z axis, to collector and driver, with VDV values of 36.28 ms-1.75 and 39.71 ms-1.75, respectively. To the reality of the passenger, the situation in front of the vehicle seat, the observed exposure to VCI, second the basic method was considered "a little uncomfortable", while for sitting in the middle section, was classified as "uncomfortable". The average values of vibration magnitudes, by the basic method, on the z axis, found on the seats of passengers and drivers are similar, suggesting that the seat cushioning of these is inappropriate. Drivers are exposed to levels above the recommended limits, and passengers have traveled in an uncomfortable situation.