Name: Full body vibration is part of the Lower Body JEM

The Lower Body JEM, based on 5 experts’ ratings of daily duration (hours/day) of standing/walking,  kneeling/squatting, and whole-body vibrations as well as total load lifted (kg/day) and frequency of lifting loads weighing ≥20 kg (times/day) covers all DISCO-88 codes. Experts agreed on rankings of job groups, and rankings based on mean values of the experts’ rating were in accordance with the opinion of external experts. The conversion between the version based on occupational titles and the version based on DISCO-88 codes is described in:

Vad MV, Frost P, Bay-Nielsen M, Svendsen SW. Impact of occupational mechanical exposures on risk of lateral and medial inguinal hernia requiring surgical repair. Occup Environ Med 2012; 69: 802-9.

Contact information: Tine Steen Rubak Erichsen, Dept. of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, 2200 Copenhagen NV, Denmark.

tine.steen.rubak.erichsen@regionh.dk

Reference:  Rubak TS, Svendsen SW, Andersen JH, Haar JP, Kryger A, Jensen LD, Frost P. An expert-based job exposure matrix for large scale epidemiologic studies of primary hip and knee osteoarthritis: the Lower Body JEM. BMC Musculoskelet Disord, 2014 Jun 13;15:204.

Access: To obtain access to data follow the application procedure on this site. You will find an overview of the access posibilies to the JEM  here  Hent dokument.

Exposure: Expert rated exposures in 5 domains:

Standing/walking (hours per 8 hours workday)
Kneeling/squatting (hours per 8 hours workday)
Whole body vibration (hours per 8 hours workday)
Total load lifted (kg/day)
Frequency of lifting loads weighing ≥20 kg (times/day)

Coverage: 122 homogeneous groups, covering all occupational titles in The Danish version of ISCO-88 (DISCO-88) and their corresponding DISCO-88 codes. Of the 372 DISCO-88 codes, 204 were assessed as minimally exposed on a general level. The remaining 168 DISCO-codes were allocated to 121 homogeneous groups.

Job title and industry classification system: DISCO-88.

Calendar period: The JEM was established in 2009 and should cover a time period from around 1990 to the present date.

Measures of exposure: A working day of 8 hours was quantified with regard to duration (hours/day) of standing/walking, kneeling/squatting, and whole-body vibration as well as total load lifted (kg/day) and frequency of lifting loads weighing ≥20 kg (times/day).

Uncertainty in exposure measures:
The exposures were expert assessed.

Demographic dimensions:
No demographic dimensions.