Ideally, anyone who spends much of their working day in a car, van or other vehicle should be screened.  A screening programme allows drivers who are at risk of musculoskeletal problems to be filtered for a vehicle assessment and advice.

Advice and modifications

When ordering vehicles most businesses will factor in cost and efficiency, but driver comfort isn’t always taken into proper consideration. This means that advice and modifications may be required in order to ensure the driver’s health and wellbeing isn’t adversely affected. In particular, companies with a large number of drivers and a limited range of choice in their fleet often struggle with a mismatch that can result in the need for further assessment.

We can help you look at vehicle design and dimensions and marry these up with driver build and job demands. Where moving and handling tasks take place in and out of the vehicle, a detailed evaluation of the job is particularly useful to inform choice for ideal vehicle design.

If the vehicle is already in use we can also assist: we’re often called in to sort out a problem that an individual is having with their company vehicle; or to give advice and assistance in order that problems don’t occur in the first place.

Our assessments

When we carry out an assessment for an individual driver, we firstly look at any physical difficulties; liaising with occupational health, HR departments and the individual’s GP as required.  As our ergonomics consultants are all chartered physiotherapists, we are able to carry out clinical assessments in order to gain a full understanding of any physical problems if this is necessary. We then go on to assess the fit and function of the vehicle. This includes a detailed look at driving tasks, posture, dimensions of vehicle, build of the driver and adjustability of the vehicle.

Wherever possible we try to work within the boundaries of what’s available: adjusting what we can within the vehicle, looking at the driver’s habits and providing advice on breaking periods, stretches and exercises relevant to the individual.  As a last consideration, we may resort to recommending a different vehicle: preferably from within the existing fleet. More often than not we are able to avoid recommending a new vehicle.

For more information call us on 0800 9889 999 or email ergo@wearemdg.com.