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Straight
Track #168
"If It's Not A Slip, Trip or Fall, What Is It?"
Biomechanics of Walking on Railroad Ballast
Hoey & Farina
1-888-425-1212
A
recent study evaluated the effects of walking on
ballast on railroaders. The peer-reviewed study
concluded that railroads should use smaller ballast in
yards and other locations where railroaders must walk
as part of their jobs. The study potentially could
represent a step forward toward recognizing a link
between walking on uneven ballast and cumulative
trauma disorders and musculoskeletal disorders
suffered by railroaders.
The
study, which was presented at a conference on
computer-aided ergonomic and safety research,
investigated the rearfoot motion of railroaders
walking under different conditions. The research
focused on the bio-mechanisms of loading of the lower
extremities that could lead to musculoskeletal
disorders -- even when slips, trips, or falls did not
occur. The study participants, whose average age was
32 years, were required to walk while their rearfoot
motion was measured on level concrete, yard ballast
(rock about 1.9 cm across), and mainline ballast (3.8
cm). The simulated railroaders' rearfoot motion was
measured by an Optotrak system while the subjects
walked a set distance wearing work boots.
This
research is important because a significant portion of
many railroaders' work day involves walking on
ballast. Every railroader knows that walking on
ballast can cause injury. While slips, trips and falls
from torn up ballast are "recognized" causes
of injuries, less well-known and recognized are the
musculoskeletal disorders that railroaders develop
from regularly walking on ballast as part of their
job.
The
results of the study, which may not be surprising to
railroaders, were important: rearfoot range of motion
was significantly greater walking on the mainline
ballast than walking on either the yard ballast or the
concrete. In fact, the rearfoot range was more than
twice as great walking on mainline ballast than
walking on level concrete.
In
the interests of safety and the worker health, the
study recommended that railroads should place smaller
(yard) ballast in locations where trainmen have to
walk as part of their jobs.
For
further reading, please read the Introduction
and Abstract of Findings that are posted to
our firm's web site.
For
a copy of the entire study, please download
the pdf version of the article. If you have
any difficulty downloading the document, contact us
via email at webmaster@felahfd.com,
or call us toll free at 1-888-425-1212 and we will
arrange to send you a copy via email or hard-copy.
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