Assessment of musculoskeltal system pain complaints reported by forestry workers

Choina, Piotr; Solecki, Leszek; Goździewska, Małgorzata; Buczaj, Agnieszka

doi:10.26444/aaem/86690

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The highest frequency of disorders is identified in the lower back, a body region that is especially affected in forestry professions, especially where lifting of heavy objects, such as the chainsaw or logs, is part of the profession (Gandaseca and Yoshimura 2001). Our finding is in line with the previous studies of Choina et al (2018) and Gallis (2006), who also reported the highest incidence of musculoskeletal disorders in the lower back area. Manual loading is associated with excessive bending and muscular exertion that primarily affect the lower back region (Verbeek et al 2012).…”

Section: Msd Prevalencesupporting

confidence: 94%

Mental Workload, Occupational Fatigue and Musculoskeletal Disorders of Forestry Professionals

Arman

Nikooy

Tsioras

et al. 2022

Croat. j. for. eng. (Online)

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Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) comprise one of the most important occupational health issues in forestry professions. The purpose of the study was to examine the association among musculoskeletal disorders, antrhopometric and personal data, mental workload and occupational fatigue in forest professionals in northern Iran by means of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory (SOFI). More than eight out of every ten subjects reported at least one MSD symptom during the past 12 months, with lower back (72.5%), feet and ankles (49%) and neck (41.2%) being the more frequently affected body regions. Similar MSD prevalences were reported for the period of seven days prior to data collection. Both the mental workload (grand mean 73.18±7.54) and occupational fatigue (grand mean 106.20±24.53) achieved high scores. MSD prevalence was found to be correlated with the SOFI score and the NASA-TLX score during the last year and seven days prior to data collection, respectively.Overall, the study results confirm the very demanding nature of the forest professions, which are characterized by high MSD prevalence, increased occupational fatigue and high mental workload. Given the small-scale forestry characteristics in the study area, taking measures such as introducing vocational training and promoting the use of personal protective equipment are some first necessary steps for the local forestry workforce.

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Section: Msd Prevalencesupporting

confidence: 94%

Mental Workload, Occupational Fatigue and Musculoskeletal Disorders of Forestry Professionals

Arman

Nikooy

Tsioras

et al. 2022

Croat. j. for. eng. (Online)

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“…It was found that workers who are exposed to WBV have an increased risk of lower back pain. These results are like those obtained by Choina [3], where pain complaints of forestry workers were analysed. The results revealed that the largest percentage of forestry workers complain about lower part spine pain, which is mainly caused by WBV.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Operator whole-body vibration exposure of wheeled forwarder with bogie tracks

Butkus

Vasiliauskas

Zinkevičius

2020

19th International Scientific Conference Engineering for Rural Development Proceedings

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Exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) is one of the common occupational risk factors for the operators of self-propelled machinery including forwarders. It leads to the problems of lower back pain while long-term exposure causes occupational musculoskeletal diseases. Level of the total vibration exposure is the product of multiple factors, which include forwarder properties, terrain, forwarding distances, driving style and others. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the difference in operator whole body vibration in the full cycle of wood extraction using a wheeled forwarder and wheeled forwarder with tracks. The results were collected measuring the vibration acceleration on the seat of a brand-new forwarder. The results show that the vibration levels were slightly lower when the forwarder was operated with tracks. The calculated average A(8) exposure of the wheeled forwarder was 0.46 m•s -2 compared with 0.33 m•s -2 when the wheeled forwarder was operated with tracks. The results, however, show that the highest whole-body vibration is, when the logs are being transported to the unload location and when the empty forwarder travels back to the site unloaded. These results reveal that long transportation distances are not desirable not only from the productivity point of view, but also might have bigger harm on the operators' health.

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“…Today, these pathologies are ranked first among those recorded and refunded, both in Italy and Europe [22,33,35,36]: among them, the mostly spread are the carpal tunnel syndrome, epichondilitis, rotatory cuff tunnel syndrome and lombo-sacral rachis pathologies [19,20,[31][32][33][34]37].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of hand forces applied to a pruning tool – pilot study

Romano¹,

Caruso

Longo

et al. 2019

Ann Agric Environ Med.

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Introduction. Winter pruning is a cultivation practice necessary for maintaining the balance between the vegetative and the productive activity of plants and requires many working days using hand scissors. This operation involves the subjects carrying out a series of gestures that are repeated with considerable frequency, which are all musculo-skeletal disorders risk factors (MSDs) for the hand-wrist area. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the forces applied to pruning tools. Materials and method. Using a sensor matrix, peak and average forces were measured which are exerted while cutting branches of 3 different diameters, from 5 wine-grape cultivars. Samples were tested on 8 participants using sensored scissors to record, in 6 hand areas, the forces necessary to cut. Results. Results showed that while cutting, the factors which can impact the force employed (peak and average forces) by the subjects are branch diameter and percentage of branch humidity. Cut duration was inversely related to the size of the subject's hand. The middle finger area of the hand recorded the highest force average and peak levels, while the hand region least affected during the cuts was the farthest from the thumb. Conclusions. The study enabled the highlighting of which factors influence the forces employed by the operator while cutting grape branches, and to identify the hand regions where muscle activation is at its most. These findings can be relevant in preventing MSDs. Further studies need to be conducted with a larger number of subjects.

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Assessment of musculoskeltal system pain complaints reported by forestry workers

Abstract: The work of a forester which consist, among other things, in relocation on foot or by vehicle over long distances along an uneven terrain and in various weather conditions, is a risk factor of the occurrence of musculosceletal disorders concerning the low back and knees.

Cited by 8 publications

References 3 publications

Mental Workload, Occupational Fatigue and Musculoskeletal Disorders of Forestry Professionals

Mental Workload, Occupational Fatigue and Musculoskeletal Disorders of Forestry Professionals

Operator whole-body vibration exposure of wheeled forwarder with bogie tracks

Investigation of hand forces applied to a pruning tool – pilot study

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