Assessment of physical work demands of long-distance industrial gas delivery truck drivers.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the work-related physical demands of long-distance truck drivers employed by a large gas delivery company in Canada. METHODS: A total of 15 truck drivers participated in a data collection that included self-reporting assessments, field observations, and direct measurements to describe daily tasks organization, postural demands, physical workload, and force exertions. RESULTS: Truck drivers' work was characterized by long working days ranging from 9.9 to 15.1 h (mean = 11.4 h), with half (49%) of the total working time spent behind the wheel. The overall workload as measured by relative cardiac strain (18.7% RHR) was found excessive for the long term given the shift duration. Peaks of heart rate in excess of 30 beats per minute above the daily average occurred mainly while operating valves and handling heavy hoses during gas deliveries. The task of delivering gas at a client's site required a moderate work rate on average (8.3 mlO2/kg/min) requiring 24.4% or maximum work capacity on average. CONCLUSION: Based on multiple data sources, this study highlights the risks of over-exertion and of excessive physical fatigue in the truck drivers' work that are coherent with the high prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal pain in this group of workers.

Assessment of physical work demand of short distance industrial gas delivery truck drivers.

AIM: This study assessed the work-related physical demands of short-distance truck drivers employed by a large gas delivery company in Canada. METHODS: A total of 19 truck drivers participated in the data collection, which included a combination of self-reports, field observations and direct measurements to report on the work shift task composition, postures, physical workload, and force exertions. RESULTS: Driving (mean of 43% of daily work shift) and delivering gas cylinders to customers (28%) were the main tasks of the truck drivers. Delivering gas cylinders measured as moderate level work and daily work duration was not excessive with respect to mean cardiac strain for most drivers. However, manual handling and force exertion activities were frequent and deemed unsafe most of the time with respect to existing guidelines on manual materials handling. CONCLUSION: This study documents physical risk factors that are consistent with musculoskeletal pain prevalence reported for short-distance truck drivers.

Risk factors associated with self-reported musculoskeletal pain among short and long distance industrial gas delivery truck drivers.

AIM: This study investigated and compared the associations between self-reported exposures to individual as well as work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors for musculoskeletal (MS) disorders and the prevalence of MS symptoms in different body areas among short- (P&D) and long-distance (Bulk delivery) truck drivers working for the same large gas delivery company in Canada. METHODS: 123 truck drivers nationwide participated in this questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: 43.1% of drivers reported MS pain in at least one body area over the past 12 months and 26.8% over the past 7 days. Bulk drivers had a significantly higher prevalence of MS pain than P&D drivers for both periods. When P&D and Bulk drivers were pooled together, belonging to the Bulk subgroup emerged as the strongest factor for low back pain (OR = 8.45, p = 0.002), for shoulder pain (OR = 3.70, p = 0.027) and for MS pain in any body area (OR = 4.05, p = 0.006). In Bulk drivers "High effort-reward imbalance" was strongly associated with MS pain in any body area (OR = 6.47, p = 0.01), with shoulder pain (OR = 4.95, p = 0.016), and with low back pain (OR = 4.51, p = 0.02). In P&D drivers MS pain in any body area was strongly associated with "Working with hands above shoulders" (OR = 6.58, p = 0.009) and "Whole-body vibration" (OR = 5.48, p = 0.018), while shoulder pain was strongly associated with "Hand-arm vibration" (OR = 7.27, p = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of MS pain was higher among industrial gas delivery truck drivers than in the general Quebec male worker population, and higher for Bulk drivers compared to P&D drivers. MS pain in Bulk drivers was mainly associated with psychosocial risk factors and lifestyle; MS pain in P&D drivers was mainly associated with physical risk factors.

Risk analysis for confined space entries: Critical analysis of four tools applied to three risk scenarios.

Investigation reports of fatal confined space accidents nearly always point to a problem of identifying or underestimating risks. This paper compares 4 different risk analysis tools developed for confined spaces by applying them to 3 hazardous scenarios. The tools were namely 1. a checklist without risk estimation (Tool A), 2. a checklist with a risk scale (Tool B), 3. a risk calculation without a formal hazard identification stage (Tool C), and 4. a questionnaire followed by a risk matrix (Tool D). Each tool's structure and practical application were studied. Tools A and B gave crude results comparable to those of more analytic tools in less time. Their main limitations were lack of contextual information for the identified hazards and greater dependency on the user's expertise and ability to tackle hazards of different nature. Tools C and D utilized more systematic approaches than tools A and B by supporting risk reduction based on the description of the risk factors. Tool D is distinctive because of 1. its comprehensive structure with respect to the steps suggested in risk management, 2. its dynamic approach to hazard identification, and 3. its use of data resulting from the risk analysis.

The need for a comprehensive approach to managing confined space entry: summary of the literature and recommendations for next steps.

Despite all the regulatory and standard-setting efforts that have been made in North America, judging from the most recent statistics many fatal incidents related to work in confined spaces still occur. In Canada, fatal incidents in the province of Quebec reveal failures in and absence of the identification and preparation of work situations in confined spaces and in risk management. In this study, we performed a literature review consisting of 77 documents on existing hazards and risk assessment for confined spaces. Moreover, we formulated proposals regarding the design of specific and improved tools for assessing such risks. We found that atmospheric hazards monopolized attention in the literature on confined spaces, while risk estimation specific to confined space interventions received little practical coverage overall, apart from atmospheric hazards. The parameters used to establish classes or groupings of confined spaces in existing tools were imprecise. The development of a risk analysis process that is (i) more systematic and based on the concepts recognized in risk management standards, (ii) multidisciplinary, and (iii) adapted to the specific characteristics of confined spaces is therefore needed. Such a process will better support managers and occupational health and safety (OH&S) personnel in their efforts to prioritize and reduce risks. Suggestions on such a risk analysis tool and categorization of interventions in confined spaces are proposed in this article. Lastly, risk analysis tools adapted to confined space interventions are needed to ensure the inherently safe design of these spaces.

Study on lockout procedures for the safety of workers intervening on equipment in the municipal sector in Québec.

In Québec, workers intervening in hazardous zones of machines, equipment and processes during maintenance, repairs and unjamming activities have to apply lockout procedures. Lockout procedures involve shutting down the equipment, isolating it, applying individual locks, releasing residual energies and verifying the absence of energies. Lockout has mostly been linked to industrial sectors. However, the municipal sector also faces challenges when it comes to controlling hazardous energies. The objectives of this research are to study serious accidents linked to our subject, study the application of lockout in different municipalities in Québec, identify the specificities for the municipal sector and propose some means to support the application of lockout. We will show that lockout procedures are required in different locations in municipalities and that they are currently being implemented in the municipal sector in Québec. Moreover, we propose a model which aims at facilitating the implementation of lockout procedures in the municipal sector.

Experimental analysis of 31 risk estimation tools applied to safety of machinery.

This article studies differences in the results of using different risk estimation tools in the same hazardous situations involving dangerous machinery. We investigated how (a) types of risk estimation parameters and methods of constructing tools, (b) the number of levels of each parameter, and (c) the number of risk levels influence the results. Consequently, 31 risk estimation tools were compared by using them to estimate risk levels associated with 20 hazardous situations. Risk estimation appears to be tool-dependent, as different tools give different results with identical hazardous situations. The scope of the tool, its use, and construction could explain these differences. This article also proposes a series of rules for constructing tools to alleviate many problems associated with the variability of risk estimations.