An ergonomic assessment of the long handle blueberry harvesting rake

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bauer R ; Jenkins P ; May E ; May J ; Scribani M ; Wyckoff L ; Wyckoff S
• Description:
  Background: Previous work shows the superiority of the long-handled blueberry harvesting rake (LHR) for worker preference and productivity compared to the short-handle rake (SHR). Methods: Post-shift interviews on occurrence, location, and severity of pain, and video-based observation of body postures enabled ergonomic assessment of Maine workers harvesting blueberries. Workers randomly crossed between LHR and SHR on consecutive work days. Wilcoxon tests compared proportions of specific body postures between LHR and SHR. Results: Subjects used SHR for shorter work periods than LHR. Thirty workers provided interviews for both one LHR and one SHR shift. Assessment of these matched pairs suggested a trend toward less frequent overall pain (P = 0.07) and back pain (P = 0.11) with the LHR versus the SHR. Video tape analysis included 17 sets of observations (8 SHR and 9 LHR) on 12 individuals. Posture assessment showed more severe forward bend and squatting with the SHR and more moderate/neutral postures with the LHR. Conclusion: Harvesting with the traditional SHR is likely to be associated with increased frequency of pain in general, and mid-low back pain in particular, when compared to the newer LHR. This may well relate to the work postures associated with each rake. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Biomechanical Phenomena Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Farmers Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-processes Agricultural-workers Author Keywords: Ergonomic Back-injuries Back Pain Biomechanics Blueberry Rake Equipment-design Exposure-assessment Farmworker Hand-tools Human-factors-engineering Injuries Injury-prevention Migrant Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal Injury Posture Tools

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant ; Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 2 ; Vermont
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041839
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2012 Nov; 55(11):1051-1059
• Contact Point Address:
  Sherry Wyckoff, BS, New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, Bassett Healthcare, Atwell Rd., Cooperstown, NY 13326
• Email:
  sherry.wyckoff@bassett.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital - New York
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20030901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20080831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aada680497ce9f075990fea352683c814f14e93ffc2fba921e19f47099243db6cfb259b6c43683010139b789f7c0b05579569cdd56481de86aab664c6a489b61
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194288/cdc_194288_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.99 MB ]