title: A field study of exposure to whole-body vibration due to agricultural machines in a full-time rice farmer over one year.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to clarify in detail the levels of whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure from a variety of agricultural machines in a rice farmer over one year, and to evaluate the daily level of exposure compared with European and Japanese threshold limits.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subject was a full-time, male rice farmer. We measured vibration accelerations on the seat pan and at the seat base of four tractors with various implements attached, one rice-planting machine, two combine harvesters, produced by the same manufacturer, and one truck used for transportation of agricultural machines. The position and velocity of the machines were recorded in parallel with WBV measurements. In addition, during the year starting in April 2010, the subject completed a questionnaire regarding his work (date, place, content, hours worked, machines used). We calculated the daily exposure to WBV, A(8), on all the days on which the subject used the agricultural machines.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The WBV magnitude in farm fields was relatively high during tasks with high velocity and heavy mechanical load on the machine, and had no dominant axis. The subject worked for 159 days using the agricultural machines during the year, and the proportion of days on which A(8) values exceeded the thresholds was 90% for the Japan occupational exposure limit and 24% for the EU exposure action value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings emphasize the need for rice farmers to have health management strategies suited to the farming seasons and measures to reduce WBV exposure during each farm task.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Social Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science.
authors.forename: Hiroji
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsujimura
authors.forename: Kazushi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taoda
authors.forename: Teruyo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitahara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000383:Agriculture; D000067565:Farmers; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D016272:Occupational Health; D014186:Transportation; D014732:Vibration / Q000009:adverse effects*