Ergonomic Field Assessment of Bucking Bars during Riveting Tasks

Riveting tasks in aircraft manufacturing results in exposure to vibration from both rivet guns and bucking bars. Long term exposure to vibration has been associated with symptoms of vibration white finger and musculoskeletal disorders. Four different bucking bars of the same shape but different material and mass characteristics (90% tungsten, >90% tungsten, cold rolled and stainless steel) were investigated for vibration and grip muscle activity during a riveting task. The >90% and 90% tungsten bars (3.4 m/s2 and 3.6 m/s2, respectively) resulted in significantly less mean resultant weighted acceleration when compared to the cold rolled and stainless steel (5.3 m/s2 and 5.6 m/s2, respectively), whereas there was no difference in mean hand grip flexor or extensor muscle activity. These results suggest that for bucking tasks that allow access for the bucking bar size investigated, use of heavier but same sized tungsten bucking bars can reduce vibration transmission to the hand.