Static Lower Back Stress Analysis in Citrus Harvesting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Conlan TM ; Miles JA ; Steinke WE
• Description:
  The dramatic increase in worker injuries and workers compensation insurance costs have created a need to reduce worker mechanical stress in harvesting citrus. This analysis implemented occupational biomechanics to evaluate lower back stress in the current citrus harvesting operation. The object of this investigation was to identify activities which induce excessive lower back stresses on citrus workers. Lower back stress was evaluated under static conditions in three commonly occurring citrus harvesting positions and compared with National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established limits on lower back stress. Three commonly occurring positions were analyzed-descending the citrus ladder, walking with a full citrus bag, and bending over to pick citrus from the ground. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine if the citrus bag weight, abdominal pressure, height, weight, and physical size of the worker affects lower back stress. Some of these activities cause lower back force to exceed established industrial limits. Current citrus harvesting systems could be redesigned to reduce physical stress encountered by citrus pickers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Biomechanical Phenomena Environmental Exposure Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Agricultural-workers Author Keywords: Citrus Harvesting Back-injuries Biomechanics Height-factors Industrial-exposures Industrial-hazards Industrial-safety Industrial-safety-programs Injuries Lower Back Stress Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Occupational-safety-programs Physical-capacity Physical-stress Weight-factors Weight-measurement

  More +
• ISSN:
  0001-2351
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032655
• Citation:
  Trans ASAE 1995 May-Jun; 38(3):929-936
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Davis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19900930
• Source Full Name:
  Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1726ed215f44788c4e21a47dc8a8dd0bf4e27c3f1b7c3aa6b7e7f14e53c7985b483f42e73a3d53308a480a8e8034bb66535b5182d5809578d53b26acd7055d16
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186549/cdc_186549_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.56 MB ]