Thermography in ergonomic assessment: a study of wood processing industry workers

Soranso, Denise Ransolin; Minette, Luciano José; Marçal, Marcio Alves; Marins, João Carlos Bouzas; Schettino, Stanley; Lima, Roldão Carlos Andrade; Oliveira, Michel Picanço

doi:10.7717/peerj.13973

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Prolonged sitting poses a potential health risk to the musculoskeletal system of employees [ 26 ]. By monitoring changes in skin temperature across working muscles, IRT can help identify potential ergonomic risks and areas for improvement within the work environment [ 27 ]. While IRT provides an indirect measure of the thermal radiation of the body, it offers valuable insights into how the workplace impacts the body and potential areas of overload.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography

Sortino,

Trovato,

Zanghì

et al. 2024

JCM

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Background: Prolonged sitting is a potential risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in office workers. This study aims to evaluate the effect of active breaks on reducing muscle overload in subjects who sit for long periods using infrared thermography (IRT). Methods: A sample of 57 office workers participated in this study and were divided into two groups: active breaks (ABs) and no active breaks (NABs). The NAB group sat continuously for 90 min without standing up, while the AB group performed stretching and mobility exercises every 30 min. IRT measurements were taken every 30 min before the active breaks. Results: The results highlight that the skin temperature of the back increased significantly in both groups after 30 min of sitting; however, in the subsequent measurements, the AB group showed a decrease in temperature, while the NAB group maintained a high temperature. Exercise and time point of measurement all reported p-values < 0.001; there were no statistically significant differences between the Δt0-1 of the NAB and AB groups, while the Δt1-2 and Δt1-3 of the NAB and AB groups showed statistically significant differences for all back regions. Conclusions: The clinical relevance of this study confirms the negative effects of prolonged sitting on the health of the back, demonstrating that active breaks can reduce back strain, emphasizing the need for workplace interventions. In addition, IRT represents a non-invasive method to assess back muscle overload and monitor the effectiveness of interventions in all categories of workers who maintain a prolonged sitting position. The main limitation of this study is the absence of a questionnaire for the assessment of back pain, which does not allow a direct correlation between temperature changes and back pain outcomes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography

Sortino,

Trovato,

Zanghì

et al. 2024

JCM

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“…The authors [ 16 ] highlight that studying the influence of forest fires and their spatiotemporal trends, associated with climatic factors, is extremely relevant for the conservation of biological and water resources in the Amazon Forest, especially in the state of Pará, where the highest values of deforestation of the Legal Amazon. Furthermore, fires can change the local microclimate, affecting the health of forestry workers in these regions [ 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a relationship between forest fires and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?

Furtado Lima,

Pereira Torres,

Minette

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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The Brazilian Legal Amazon is an extensive territory in which different factors influence the dynamics of forest fires. Currently, the Brazilian government has two tools in the public domain and free of charge, PRODES and BDQueimadas, to monitor and make decisions to combat deforestation and forest fires. This work aimed to evaluate and correlate the forest fire alerts and deforestation in the Amazon Forest in the state of Pará. The analyses were based on carrying out a diagnosis of forest fires and deforestation; the behavior of forest fires and deforestation over the last twenty years; the statistical relationship between deforestation and forest fires and their spatialization. This work identified that Pará is the state in the Legal Amazon with the highest occurrence of forest fires and deforestation. Deforestation in the four-year period Jan/2003-Dec/2006 showed a higher rate compared to the four-year periods Jan/2011-Dec/2018. A high correlation was found between forest fire alerts and increases in deforestation. There is a spatial relationship between cities with greater increases in deforestation and high numbers of fire alerts. In relation to the occurrence of forest fires and deforestation, the south of the state was the most critical region and the north had lower rates.

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“…On the other hand, the frequent use of these machines in wood harvesting has caused the emergence of ergonomic adversities-whether biomechanical problems, repetitive strain injuries, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, noise, or vibrations, among others [5][6][7]. The physical aspect derived from mechanical vibration stands out among the adversities to which self-propelled forest machine operators are exposed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement Time in the Evaluation of Whole-Body Vibration: The Case of Mechanized Wood Extraction with Grapple Skidder

Lima,

Minette,

Simões

et al. 2023

Forests

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The grapple skidder is a self-propelled forestry machine that is used for the extraction of trees in wood harvesting—commonly used in full tree systems. Moving this machine can expose operators to occupational hazards of physical origin, among which whole body vibration stands out. However, the measurement of this risk agent does not have a standard measurement time, being performed for periods of approximately 30 min—disregarding the time of the daily workday. In view of this, it was analyzed whether occupational exposure to whole body vibration transmitted to grapple skidder operators using different measurement times complies with the guidelines for preventative purposes. Thus, measurements of whole-body vibration were carried out along three orthogonal axes over a period of one hour and over a daily workday of eight hours—by which were measured the daily (8 h) vibration exposure for the l-axis and the vibration value. The acceleration values in the three evaluated axes were higher for the daily working day, denoting the influence of the measurement time. In addition, the vibration dose value resulted in values above the action limit for both evaluations; however, the daily workload was highlighted—indicating the presence of higher vibration peaks over a longer measurement time. Thus, the assertiveness and influence of measurement times over the daily working day for whole-body vibration transmitted to grapple skidder operators is evidenced.

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Thermography in ergonomic assessment: a study of wood processing industry workers

Cited by 6 publications

References 35 publications

Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography

Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography

Is there a relationship between forest fires and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?

Measurement Time in the Evaluation of Whole-Body Vibration: The Case of Mechanized Wood Extraction with Grapple Skidder

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