Whole-Body Vibration Analysis of Baby Hammock

Geh, Chia Sin (2016) Whole-Body Vibration Analysis of Baby Hammock. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

have been carried on the effect of rocking on a baby and concluded that baby sleeps easier while being rocked. In Malaysia, as in many Southeast Asian Countries, it is common to put babies to sleep in a baby hammock. The vertical rocking motion generated by baby hammock has exposed babies to whole-body vibration (WBV). It has been shown by ISO 2631 (1997) that WBV may lead the discomfort and adverse effect on health. Standards have been set by ISO 2631 (1997) concerning the WBV for people in a recumbent position and consider weighted vibrations of more than 2 m/s2 to be extremely uncomfortable. However, standards concerning the allowable amount vibrations a baby in a baby hammock can safely endure are currently lacking. WBV analysis of the baby hammock with the weights ranged from 3 kg to 14 kg were conducted. For each measurement, four conditions are considered: manual rocking, automatic rocking with low, medium and high speed. In this study, average root-mean-square values for the acceleration were found to be at a maximum of 2.4581 m/s2, and to be above the extremely uncomfortable level. This project has developed a baseline exposure time for the baby hammock before it reaches the safety values of exposure action value (EAV) and exposure limit value (ELV) set by HSE (2005). It is recommended to use the baby hammock, less than 19 minutes for automatic rocking and less than 49 minutes for manual rocking. This information has facilitates an important step towards awareness of parents who rock their babies to sleep in the baby hammock.