A Wearable Device to Assess the Spine Biomechanical Overload in a Sample of Loggers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bortolotti S ; Colosio C ; Giorgianni CM ; Masci F ; Rosecrance J ; Spatari G
• Description:
  Forestry workers are exposed to harsh environmental conditions, awkward postures, and high intensity load handling that might lead to low back injuries. The objectives of our study were 1) to define the trunk postures associated with risk of low back injury in a sample of forestry workers involved in tree felling, delimbing and bucking tasks and 2) to identify prevention strategies that reduce the risk of low back injury. Forty loggers were selected among the population of forestry workers in the province of Enna, Sicily-Italy. Each worker was required to perform for a period of 30 min the three main tasks: felling, delimbing and bucking for a total of 90 min of working activity. All subjects involved in the study wore a Zephyr Bioharness device on their trunk, which enabled the recording of sagittal inclination of the trunk, heart rate, breathing rate, and an estimate of body temperature. The results indicated that the felling task required loggers to work more time in awkward postures. Additionally, sagittal inclination of the trunk was greater than 60 degrees for the 13% of the time, compared with delimbing (3%), and bucking (11%). The percentage of time spent with the trunk in sagittal inclination greater than 60 degrees was correlated with the use of heavy (>7,2 kg) chainsaws during the felling and in the delimbing tasks. The study results indicated that the trunk posture during tree delimbing and felling tasks contributed significantly to the risk of biomechanical overload among the loggers. Preventive strategies should focus on specific interventions that reduce biomechanical stress including worker training and implementation of ergonomic designed tool. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Ergonomics Forestry Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Biomechanical Overload Back Injuries Biomechanical Modeling Biomechanics Forestry Workers Loggers Logging Workers Low Back Pain Posture Spine Wearable Technologies

  More +
• ISBN:
  9783030746131
• ISSN:
  2367-3370
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  162-170
• Volume:
  223
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070919
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021), June 13-18, 2021, virtual event. Volume V: methods & approaches. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, volume 223. Black NL, Neumann WP, Noy I eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021 Jun; 223:162-170
• Email:
  Federica.masci@unimi.it
• Editor(s):
  Black NL; Neumann WP; Noy I
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Colorado State University - Ft. Collins
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20030915
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2021), June 13-18, 2021, virtual event. Volume V: methods & approaches. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, volume 223
• End Date:
  20270914
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:20bb7236bfb22cb741ed4f914ffb4c1bab1e9a0c990bc1837c988a427e74077fd3700f42bbfe3493d28bcba7941c09cfbb960e01993e98ed1e528b1e8469f62b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209040/cdc_209040_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.63 MB ]