Forces Required to Operate Controls on Agricultural All-Terrain Vehicles: Implications for Youth

Details

• Personal Author:
  De Moura Araujo G ; Fathallah F ; Khorsandi Kouhanestani F
• Description:
  All-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes are among the leading causes of injury and death among youth in the agriculture industry. It is hypothesised that youth are involved in ATV-related incidents because they cannot effectively activate the vehicle's controls. This study evaluated potential discrepancies between the required activation forces of the controls of fifty-four utility ATVs and the strength of male-and-female youth of varying ages (6-20 years old) and strength percentiles (5th, 50th, and 95th). The activation forces of the ATVs' controls were measured experimentally, while the youth's corresponding strength was retrieved from the literature. The results of this study demonstrated a physical mismatch between the forces required to operate ATV controls and youth's strength. Turning the handlebar, pressing the footbrake, and pushing the ATV off are the most difficult tasks for ATV operation. These discrepancies compromise the youth's ability to ride ATVs, increasing their risk of crashes. Practitioner summary: Previous studies indicate that some youth engage in ATV incidents because they cannot activate the vehicle's controls. We measured the forces required to operate eight ATV controls and compared them with the youth's corresponding strength. Our results demonstrated physical mismatches between the forces required to operate ATV controls and the youth's strength. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Metals Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Adolescents Agricultural Industry Agriculture Author Keywords: ATV Biomechanics Children Ergonomics Farm Fatalities Motor Vehicles Quadbike Strength Traumatic Injuries Vehicle Safety

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• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067080
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2023 Sep; 66(9):1280-1294
• Contact Point Address:
  Farzaneh Khorsandi Kouhanestani, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
• Email:
  fkhorsandi@ucdavis.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20080930
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20250929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:19327afc73af23bdd621611e34739673038d13ae290cd181fe0cb9e7ddbc102772350adb255b3c5588bca51cff86103203986bad03ae70bb00d878e8403da93d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/231278/cdc_231278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.91 MB ]