Evaluation of an Ergonomic Intervention Demonstrates Reduced Low Back Loads Associated with Commercial Dungeness Crab Harvesting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kia K ; Kim J ; Kincl, Laurel
• Description:
  The West Coast Dungeness crab fleet is considered one of the highest-risk commercial fishing fleets in the US due to high injury rates (Case et al., 2015). The majority of limiting nonfatal injuries were associated with handling, hauling, and setting crab pots (72%), which can pose forceful exertions, awkward postures, and repetitive motions (Bovbjerg et al., 2018). In a conventional set up for crab pot handling, fishermen "bang" the pot on the top of the sorting table, which can create substantial torso flexion and therefore increase biomechanical load in the low back. During our previous work with this commercial fishing fleet, we identified an ergonomic intervention (banger bar) developed by Dungeness crab fishermen (Pillai et al., 2019). The banger bar is attached to the top of crab sorting table to help dump the crabs from the pot. Therefore, they would not have to bend their backs as much compared to crab pot handling with a conventional set up. However, this fishermen-developed intervention has never been biomechanically evaluated; thus, its effectiveness and potential hazards are unknown. To address this current research gap, this study evaluated the use of a banger bar in reducing biomechanical load in the low back during simulated crab pot handling tasks. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Ergonomics Hunting Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Biomechanics Fishing Industry Intervention Effectiveness MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders
• ISSN:
  1071-1813
• Publisher:
  Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067240
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 66th Annual Meeting, October 10-14, 2022, Atlanta, Georgia. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2022 Sep; 66(1):1642
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Oregon State University, Corvallis
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20190901
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 66th Annual Meeting, October 10-14, 2022, Atlanta, Georgia
• End Date:
  20210831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61bab830a4ddfbff8d7efe73ec6a1ea48fe7f60f67deabda86ca2695f3afeb774c074ddeb3f24d729a674b1112a53cbf51ce6c26f87abd709da914f67dd46261
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/231360/cdc_231360_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]