Is One Man’s Zinfandel Another Man’s Pain?

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fathallah F ; Garcia E ; Meyers JM ; Miles JA
• Description:
  We are in the University vineyard on a warm, sunny October afternoon, standing in front of several poles-and-wire trellis systems-very much like the supports used to tie up grapevines. However, instead of bunches of Zinfandel or Cabernet grapes ready to be harvested, there are plastic bags filled with pre-weighed amounts of rice tied to the wires. It's an unusual sight. The presence of Dick Hoenish, the vineyard manager, is, of course, not at all unusual. However, he normally doesn't work with quite so much equipment attached to him. He is wearing something that looks like a cross between a back support and a backpack, with monitoring equipment mounted on it. There are monitoring electronics attached to his wrist, as well. Hoenish is about to take part in an ergonomic experiment run by Fadi Fathallah (BAE) and his research team. Fathallah is trying to make quantitative measurements of the back and wrist motions used in grape harvesting with the goal of coming up with an objective way to describe the motion that can create musculo-skeletal problems in workers and then devising processes by which these motions - and the problems they bring - can be remedied or prevented. The purpose of this particular part of the experiment is to measure mathematically the ways in which different heights affect the level of stress and motion that are required of the harvester. Fathallah has already worked on measuring the motions associated with pruning grapes (he describes pruning as being "hard on the hands" with characteristic understatement) and is now turning his attention to the harvesting process. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Cumulative Trauma Disorders Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-processes Agricultural-workers Cumulative-trauma Cumulative-trauma-disorders Humans Muscle-function Muscular-disorders Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Repetitive-work Work-operations Worker-health

  More +
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Lay Publication
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  10-11
• Volume:
  12
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058346
• Citation:
  Eng Prog 2002 Dec; 12(4):10-11
• Contact Point Address:
  Fadi Fathallah, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, 3020 Bainer Hall, University of California, Davis, California 95616
• Email:
  fathallah@ucdavis.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Low Back Disorders
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Davis, California
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20000601
• Source Full Name:
  Engineering Progress
• End Date:
  20040531
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e2cbde10e4e3db4fa3abfce9b96ec951dd496ba77c81da9ed9a60273696caf55702082cb280eefc041f05b07f5d5e8dd18ca6bbc7f227bbccd24162d8c965a85
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221465/cdc_221465_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.03 MB ]