Biomechanical model to assess injury reduction during impact

Abstract

This paper implements a biomechanical model and actual tipover trajectory data to assess the risk of head and neck injuries in standup forklift accidents. Seven accident scenarios were analyzed for right tipover, left tipover and off-dock accidents both with and without a door on the operator compartment. Each model had specific data including human anthropometry and trajectory input into the modeling and analysis software packages, Visual-Safe MAD and MADYMO. For all three accident scenarios, each of the seven biomechanical models was analyzed for Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARVs) including angular velocity (omega, omega), angular acceleration (alpha, alpha), Head Injury Criterion (HIC), Neck Injury Criterion--shear, tension and bending (NIC) and the biomechanical Neck Injury Predictor (N(ij)). The study concluded that, in general, the addition of a door to the standup forklift operator compartment leads to a reduction in injury during tipover and off-dock accidents. The ability to brace for impact is not included in these MADYMO models. Bracing is far more effective with an enclosed compartment provided by a latching rear door.