IRSST - Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail

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November 21, 2024

Patrol car design and prevention of lower back pain

Abstract

Police officers are at high risk of suffering musculoskeletal injuries. As a preliminary study conducted at the Institut in 1988 demonstrated, inadequate seating conditions in the patrol vehicle, particularly inadequate seats, are a major cause of lower back pain. The overall goal of this project, in which 32 police officers participated, was to validate a participatory approach to problem resolution adapted to police work, and to apply this approach to actual prevention programs. Specific sub-goals were: improvement of the seating area of the patrol car, analysis of the impact of the participatory approach, and improvement of prevention programs targeting police officers. The experimental portion of the study was completed in 1989 and resulted in the production of four mock-ups and two design guides for patrol vehicles. Selection criteria were defined for each piece of equipment used by patrol officers in their vehicle. This study also confirmed the feasibility of applying the participatory approach. Some of the improvements proposed during the design workshops were implemented in new patrol vehicles of a Montréal-area police force. Several other police forces evaluated different models of seats, and identified the ones which best satisfied the criteria defined by project participants.

Produced Under this Project

  • Environmental stress, the case of Quebec police force: A new approach

    Côté M.-M.

    Source :

    in International Symposium on Environmental Stress, (1st : 1989 : Tampere, Finlande), Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Environmental Stress held in Tampere, Finland, 5-8 July 1989, Manninen, O. (ed.), Tampere, Finlande, ACES Publishing, 1989,

  • Combining scientific and practical knowledge for a better understanding of occupational diseases

    Côté M.-M., Baril R., Kuorinka I.

    Source :

    in International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management, (3rd : 1990 : Kyoto, Japan), Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management III. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design

  • Participation in workplace design with reference to low-back pain: A case for the improvement of the police patrol car

    Kuorinka I., Côté M.-M., Baril R., Geoffrion R., Giguère D., Dalzell M.-A., Larue C.

    Source :

    Ergonomics, vol. 37, no 7, 1994, p. 1131-1136

  • Utilisation de l'analyse des traces dans un contexte participatif

    Giguère D., Baril R., Côté M.-M., Geoffrion R., Kuorinka I., Larue C.

    Source :

    in Actes du congrès de la Société d'ergonomie de langue française / SELF, (26e : 3-5 octobre, 1990 : Montréal, Canada), 1990, p. 237-240

  • Definition of professional vehicule functional components by its users - Case of a patrol car re-design

    Giguère D., Côté M.-M., Kuorinka I., Baril R., Larue C.

    Source :

    in Congress of the International Egonomics Association / IEA (11e : July 1991 : Paris, France), Designing for everyone: Proceeding of the 11th Congress of the International Egonomics Association / IEA, Quéinnec, Y.; Daniellou, F. (éds), Paris, France, 1991, vol. 3, p. 219-220

  • Design of professional vehicles : case of the introduction of computer equipment in police patrol cars

    Giguère D., Larue C., Gilbert D.

    Source :

    in Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Human Factors Association of Canada (30th : October 19-22, 1998 : Mississauga, Ontario), 1998, p. 81-85

Additional Information

Type: Project
Number: 0089-0490
Status: Completed
Team:
  • Blaine Hoshizaki (Université de Montréal)
  • Ilkka Kuorinka (IRSST)
  • Michèle Côté (IRSST)
  • Raymond Baril (IRSST)
  • Christian Larue (IRSST)
  • Denis Giguère (IRSST)
  • Richard Geoffrion (Rgeoffrion Consultant)