Driving Better Design: Assessment of Operations Fleet Vehicles
ViVA developed practical design strategies for improved person-vehicle fit, health, and safety.
PROJECT LEAD
PROJECT TEAM
PARTNERED WITH
In-house
Context
Local government field workers travel in small teams to service utilities, manage parklands, and repair roads. They can spend half their daily shift in their vehicles, travelling intermittently to job sites. The operational teams within a local government entity complained of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and dissatisfaction with their utility vehicles.
Challenge
The organisation recognised the need to assess comfort, fit, and safety related to worker-vehicle interactions. They needed to mitigate injury risks and employee dissatisfaction. They engaged ViVA’s specialty vehicle-ergonomics assessment services.
Approach
ViVA health at work conducted an ergonomic review of teams using a representative sample of fleet vehicles, focusing on human fit, seating design, daily tasks, and vehicle interface. During an on-site visit, the assessor engaged field workers in interviews, discomfort surveys, and task observations to determine daily work patterns, crew interactions, and exposure to risks such as prolonged sitting, whole-body vibration, ingress/egress patterns, and awkward reaches.
Outcomes
ViVA worked with management, fleet, and field crews to translate ergonomic findings into practical design solutions, including recommendations for seating redesign, optimal cabin layout, job-redesign, procurement strategy, and a future-fit design process.