Abstract

Ergonomic design of driver’s workstation is a necessary component of drivers’ safety and health protection. It was discovered that majority of the drivers of public transport suffers a great deal of injuries and labour absenteeism. This study developed the mathematical models for design of bus drivers’ workstations in Nigeria. Fifty urban buses selected from 10 brands were investigated by direct measurement. The buses were brands of urban small buses with various capacities and common brands of luxury buses categorized as A and B. Vertical and horizontal distances of the seat reference point to the pedal and steering wheel with the seat dimensions were considered. Anthropometric dimensions of 150 male urban bus drivers were taken from Southwest Nigeria. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Four models were derived using a typical link-joint biomechanical line. The modeled values obtained for both horizontal and vertical distances of the steering wheel were 54.15 - 69.10cm and 52.16 - 57.83cm and foot pedal from the seat reference point (SRP) 72.49 - 80.59cm and 39.82 - 47.11cm for A buses; while horizontal and vertical distances of the steering wheel for B buses were 52.45 - 56.70cm and 22.15 - 26.40cm and foot pedal from the SRP were 82.35 - 91.70cm and 40.30 - 46.25cm respective1y. It was concluded that the driver’s workstations in the urban buses are not ergonomically comfortable for optimum performance of the Nigerian drivers.