Drivers’ seat specialist SAVAS Seating of Zaltbommel, the Netherlands, is set to introduce the P-Elvis, a new technology in the fight against lower back problems among drivers. The company expects this new technology to cut sick leave caused by back pain by 40 per cent. This will save the transport sector a total of €45 million.
Every year, absenteeism due to illness costs the transport sector €250 million. The calculation of these costs is based on the cost-benefit model for sick leave developed by TNO Work and Employment and the 2004 absenteeism figures issued by BGZ, the organisation for health and safety at work in the road transport sector. Total absenteeism in that year was 1,771,595 man days among 91,863 employees in 4,238 companies. One man day of absenteeism costs an employer in the transport sector €141 (counting holidays and weekends). On the basis of the days that are actually worked, this figure may rise to €223.
In about half of the cases (45 per cent), sick leave is caused by trouble with the locomotor apparatus. With the P-Elvis, SAVAS has developed an effective response to this problem. By keeping drivers in motion when they are sitting, the number of drivers with back complaints can be reduced by 40 per cent. The P-Elvis will cut the number of man days lost each year due to back problems by over 300,000. This reduction amounts to savings of about €45 million a year for the transport sector.
For individual employers, an investment in the P-Elvis is highly economical: an average case of absenteeism due to illness in the transport sector costs over €3,000. Available from €325, the P-Elvis is a fraction of this amount and a reduction of a few man days will earn back the cost of investing in the P-Elvis.
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FROM MEDICAL RESEARCH TO APPLICATION IN THE TRANSPORT SECTOR
The principle of Rotary Continuous Passive Motion was first defined in the medical world by Dr L. van Deursen during research into instruments designed to stimulate physical activity. Van Deursen opted for a continuous slight rotating movement because it is an independent variable with regard to age and wear of the backbone. Following a random clinical trial among 120 back patients, Van Deursen concluded that this rotating movement caused a significant reduction in the pain they suffered. Follow-up research showed that a rotation angle of 0.8 degrees at a frequency of 4 Hz produced the best results, usually after only sixty minutes.
Converting theory into an application that can be used in practice takes time, however. In his thesis, Van Deursen showed that application of RCPM brings about a clear reduction in the pain suffered by back patients. He used these findings to demonstrate that RCPM can be expected to have a clear preventive effect as well. Good news for the automotive industry, where it had long been known that an active sitting posture is healthier than sitting passively on a seat for hours on end. This trend is progressing more or less in tandem with developments in the area of office chairs, that are based more and more on the same principle. However, none of the applications such as tilting and wobbling are suitable for use in traffic.
The minimal rotating movement discovered by Van Deursen can be used in a car seat, but it proved extremely difficult to put into practice. The applications produced by ErgoDynamics, which sells a variety of seating systems with RCPM technology, were too light and too high for a lorry seat. Another requirement was that the product had to be designed so universally that it could be built into every major-brand lorry seat.
The P-Elvis consists of two steel plates one on top of the other with bearings in between. These can then turn smoothly and silently on each other around a central spindle. A small eccentric with a stepping motor turns the top plate back and forth with a travel of 0.8 degrees. It does so very slowly but at a constant speed. Every minute, the P-Elvis moves four complete cycles from the far left to the far right. The bottom plate serves only as a bearing for the top section and to secure the P-Elvis to the frame of the seat. Although the installation height is only two centimetres, it still requires a stronger layer of foam on the seat. This is also necessary because a seat with RCPM technology only works effectively when the driver makes optimum contact with the seat (i.e. with both buttocks firmly on the seat). This may cause the seat to feel slightly harder at first. The unit is powered by the on-board power supply and the driver can activate the P-Elvis with a switch whenever required. An LED indicates when the device is active, since after a short period getting used to it, the driver who sits on it every day hardly notices the rotating movement anymore. However, he will notice a reduction in his back pain and be far less ‘saddle sore’ from having sat down for too long. Some of the test subjects spoke of feeling slightly light-headed for the first few minutes, but that quickly disappeared, never to return.
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40 PER CENT FEWER BACK PROBLEMS FOR DRIVERS
SAVAS INTRODUCES THE P-ELVIS
Drivers’ seat specialist SAVAS Seating of Zaltbommel, the Netherlands, is set to introduce the P-Elvis, a new technology in the fight against lower back problems among drivers. The company expects this new technology to cut sick leave caused by back pain by 40 per cent. Health and safety at work organisation BGZ Wegvervoer is enthusiastic about the innovation.
The P-Elvis is a simple mechanism built into the driver’s seat, which enables the seat to move to the left and right at a deflection of 0.8 degrees at a frequency of 4 times a minute. The clinical processes caused by this movement are extremely complex. In brief, the P-Elvis puts the intervertebral discs in the backbone into micro-motion, improving the circulation and thus keeping the backbone supple. In medical science, this principle is known as RCPM, or Rotary Continuous Passive Motion. Research has shown that the slight rotating movement described above prevents and combats lower back pain, a complaint suffered either regularly or constantly by 55 per cent of all lorry drivers, with all the implications this entails.
The latest figures issued by BGZ for 2004 are clear evidence of the problem. In that year, the organisation for health and safety at work registered no fewer than 1,771,595 man days of sick leave among 91,863 employees in 4,238 companies. A little under half of the cases (45 per cent) had trouble with the locomotor apparatus, while 55 per cent of the drivers indicated that they suffered from lower back pain. As a result, sick leave in the transport sector is two to three times higher than average.
Via organisations like the health and safety at work services, SAVAS Seating has been improving seats for drivers with back complaints for years, and has an unparalleled knowledge of the problem. This is why the company showed such an interest in the RCPM technology, recognising it as an opportunity to help its customers even more. The practical conversion of the RCPM technology into a product that can be used in the transport sector took place in Zaltbommel, in association with ErgoDynamics. The finished system is designed in such a way that, apart from the SAVAS seat programme, it can be built into almost any kind of existing lorry seat. This means that it is unnecessary to install a totally new, modified seat, which makes it a cost-efficient product. The official launch is scheduled at the next IAA in Hannover in September.
In the meantime, the people at BGZ are enthusiastic about the P-Elvis. In a letter of intent, the health and safety at work organisation has indicated that it regards the installation of the P-Elvis as an effective means to cut levels of sick leave among drivers. Initial results are extremely promising: people with lower back problems notice a clear reduction in the pain after only an hour. However, the primary objective of the P-Elvis is to prevent back problems. It is the first really active seating element that enables the industry to improve a driver’s seat still further, in addition to the host of passive measures regarding the correct sitting posture and support.
While the health and safety at work people have been propagating active sitting in an office environment for some time, until now it was considered impossible in the automotive industry for safety reasons. In this regard, the P‑Elvis is a major breakthrough. The P-Elvis is now recognised as an innovative project by the Ministry of Social Affairs as part of the scheme called Prevention of Absenteeism due to Illness. SAVAS believes it can cut the number of drivers with back problems by 40 per cent.
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IN THE NAME OF 'THE KING'
SAVAS Seating purposely called its newest acquisition in the fight against back pain among drivers the P-ELVIS. The official name is actually Torsio, but the people in Zaltbommel thought that sounded too medical. Since you sit on top of it and it keeps your pelvis and back turning (albeit only slightly), they called it the P-ELVIS, a tongue in cheek reference to The King. So that drivers are fit enough to rock ‘n roll for an hour or two after work!
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