Removing the thermal component from heart rate provides an accurate <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.gif" overflow="scroll"><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mover accent="true"><mml:mi mathvariant="italic">V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="italic">O</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> estimation in forest work

Dubé, Philippe-Antoine; Imbeau, Daniel; Dubeau, Denise; LeBel, Luc; Kolus, Ahmet

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2015.12.005

“…In terms of physiological workload, worth mentioning that heart rate is a good estimator of the VO 2 indicator [32] that is commonly used to predict the work difficulty in general ergonomic studies [21,22]. Cardiovascular workload, as found in this study indicates that this type of operation tends to overload the workers, therefore confirming the second hypothesis of the study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Manual Cultivation Operations in Poplar Stands: A Characterization of Job Difficulty and Risks of Health Impairment

Marogel-Popa

¹

,

Cheţa

²

,

Marcu

³

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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Short rotation poplar forests are a viable alternative in producing high quality wood for industrial applications. Their success depends on timely and high-quality implementation of a series of operations. Weed control operations are implemented to favor the trees in their competition for soil resources, and cultivation is an option typically used in many European countries. For the moment, a complete mechanization of such operations is virtually impossible, and they still require an intensive use of manual labor. Since information on work difficulty and risks in manual cultivation operations is limited, this study aimed to characterize this job. Evaluation was made in terms of work efficiency, cardiovascular workload, work intensity and postural risks by implementing a time and motion study combined with heart rate measurements, accelerometry and whole-body postural analysis. Work efficiency was particularly low even if the share of effective work time was high (70% of the observation time). Job was characterized as moderate to high intensity, which resulted into a moderate to high cardiovascular strain. While the postural analysis indicated rather small risks, the main problem was found for the back postures assumed during the work. Improvements should aim to extend mechanization, train the workers and appropriately design rest breaks.

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“…In terms of physiological workload, worth mentioning that heart rate is a good estimator of the VO 2 indicator [32] that is commonly used to predict the work difficulty in general ergonomic studies [21,22]. Cardiovascular workload, as found in this study indicates that this type of operation tends to overload the workers, therefore confirming the second hypothesis of the study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Drivers, perceived benefits and impacts of FSC Chain of Custody Certification in a challenging sectoral context: the case of Romania

Hălălișan

¹

,

Popa

²

,

Saizarbitoria

³

et al. 2019

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Short rotation poplar forests are a viable alternative in producing high quality wood for industrial applications. Their success depends on timely and high-quality implementation of a series of operations. Weed control operations are implemented to favor the trees in their competition for soil resources, and cultivation is an option typically used in many European countries. For the moment, a complete mechanization of such operations is virtually impossible, and they still require an intensive use of manual labor. Since information on work difficulty and risks in manual cultivation operations is limited, this study aimed to characterize this job. Evaluation was made in terms of work efficiency, cardiovascular workload, work intensity and postural risks by implementing a time and motion study combined with heart rate measurements, accelerometry and whole-body postural analysis. Work efficiency was particularly low even if the share of effective work time was high (70% of the observation time). Job was characterized as moderate to high intensity, which resulted into a moderate to high cardiovascular strain. While the postural analysis indicated rather small risks, the main problem was found for the back postures assumed during the work. Improvements should aim to extend mechanization, train the workers and appropriately design rest breaks.

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“…Heart rate reserve is a common indicator used in describing the difficulty of work, especially in those work environments in which the use of more accurate and sophisticated ergonomic instruments is difficult. Therefore, it was used in many forest operation-related studies [19,20,[52][53][54][55][56] and it represents a good estimator of the VO 2 indicator in forest operations [57] that is commonly used to predict the work intensity in general ergonomic studies. %HRIi = (HRwi -HRr)/(HRr) × 100…”

Section: Data Processing and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Workload, Exposure to Noise, and Risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Case Study of Motor-Manual Tree Feeling and Processing in Poplar Clear Cuts

Cheţa

¹

,

Marcu

²

,

Borz

³

2018

Forests

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Abstract:Motor-manual tree felling and processing (MMTFP) is among the most used options in timber harvesting operations and it is formally known to be a heavy job exposing the workers to safety hazards and harmful factors. Nevertheless, both workload and exposure depend on many operational, organizational, and worker-related parameters. Few studies have evaluated the ergonomics of such operations and fewer have been carried out using an integrated approach able to collect and interpret data for more than one ergonomic parameter. This study evaluated the ergonomic conditions of task-based MMTFP operations in flatland poplar forests by the means of workload, exposure to noise, and risk of musculoskeletal disorders. A fully-automatic approach was used to collect and pair the heart rate and noise exposure data that was complemented by video recording to collect postural data. Workload experienced by the worker was evaluated in terms of heart rate reserve (%HRR), indicating a heavy load during the productive time (%HRR = 46%); exposure to noise was calculated at the task and study level, exceeding (LAeq = 97.15 dB(A); L EX,8h = 96.18 dB(A)) the acceptable limits; and the risk of musculoskeletal disorders was evaluated using the concepts and procedures of the Ovako Working Posture Analysis System, indicating a high postural risk index (PRI = 275), which can cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). For more conclusive results, the research should be extended to cover the relevant variability factors.

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Removing the thermal component from heart rate provides an accurate V˙O2 estimation in forest work

Cited by 15 publications

References 18 publications

Manual Cultivation Operations in Poplar Stands: A Characterization of Job Difficulty and Risks of Health Impairment

Manual Cultivation Operations in Poplar Stands: A Characterization of Job Difficulty and Risks of Health Impairment

Drivers, perceived benefits and impacts of FSC Chain of Custody Certification in a challenging sectoral context: the case of Romania

Workload, Exposure to Noise, and Risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Case Study of Motor-Manual Tree Feeling and Processing in Poplar Clear Cuts

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