Noise exposure of a tractor driver at skidding of wood assortments in hilly-mountaineous areas

Abstract

The first phase of transport of forest products (skidding) in Serbia is usually performed by skid trails with adapted agricultural tractors. The educational base ?Goc - Gvozdac? compartment 21 was the selected object of this research. Data recording was carried out in June 2011. The vehicle driven by the driver was an IMT 565 DV tractor. The organizational form of work was 1T + 1P (tractor driver and assistant). The microphone of a Bruel & Kjaer 4189 noise measuring instrument was mounted on the helmet of the tractor driver in accordance with the ISO 9612: 2012 standard. The recording was performed with a Bruel & Kjaer 2250 instrument. The values of the following parameters with appropriate filters: LAeq (dB(A)), LAIeq (dB(A)), LCpeak (dB(C)), LZeq (dB) were measured. The measured exposure of the workers to noise was the highest in the course of the main productive time (empty or full drive). It was found that the eight-hour exposure to noise of the driver (88 dB (A)) exceeds the limit value of daily exposure according to European legislation. The results show that it is necessary for drivers to use hearing protection equipment when transporting wood with the studied transportation vehicle.