What Is the Current Ergonomic Condition of Chainsaws in Non-Professional Use? A Case Study to Determine Vibrations and Noises in Small-Scale Agroforestry Farms

Abstract

Agroforestry or agricultural forestry is an important resource for the exploitation of wood resources commonly based on a low level of mechanization and integrating agriculture crops land-management. Agroforestry areas consist often of buffer strip forest along the farms’ boundaries or on small forest stands within the same farms. Felling is commonly based on the use of chainsaws which are used occasionally, and are often aged models and with little maintenance done on them. In this context, the present study analyzes the vibration and noise generated by chainsaws in the specific contest of the agroforestry farms. The aim is to verify the hand-arm vibrations and noise level, which self-employed agroforest operators are exposed with the occasional use of aged and rarely maintained chainsaws. The main results show that vibration exposures are significantly affected by the model and condition of use of the chainsaw and at lower level, but still significant, by the wood and the position of the handle. Regarding noise levels, the chainsaw model and condition of use also has significant effects. In summary, this study highlights that the importance of the condition of use of the chainsaw has an important effect on the vibrations and noise exposition and that these, although limited due to the limited daily use by operators, must be carefully taken into consideration, and provide for containment actions through adequate information and training.

A Comparison between the Latest Models of Li-Ion Batteries and Petrol Chainsaws Assessing Noise and Vibration Exposure in Cross-Cutting

“…Moreover, the work with chainsaws reports one of the highest injury frequencies [12,13], and it is often related to the onset of professional diseases in the medium and long term due to the prolonged exposure to unfavorable operational conditions. The hazards related to noise and vibrations are often wrongly undervalued by forest operators who often do not consider them as an immediate risk to their health and because the negative effects do not appear so quickly after exposure [14,15]. The symptoms related to vibration exposure in wood harvesting operations have been investigated in many studies [16,17] and are known altogether as the hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVs).…”

“…[29]. The influence of wood species on vibration emission was studied by [15,[30][31][32][33]. The findings of these studies reveal that softwood species show a lower cutting resistance, which results in fewer vibrations production than hardwood species even if in conifers, as investigated by Kuvik et al (2017) and Neri et al (2022), the presence of wood defects (knots, scar calluses due to cracks) reduces the chainsaw performance, increasing the cutting times and the vibration levels [34,35].…”

“…Another hazard affecting forest workers during the use of chainsaws is noise exposure. High noise levels can negatively affect operators' hearing capability even with short exposures causing a temporary or permanent loss of sensitivity [36,37] and acuity [15]. The main noise sources in internal combustion chainsaws are the engine and all the mechanical processes involved.…”

Daily Vibration Exposure in the Context of State and European Legislature: A Case Study among Chainsaw Operators in Croatia

“…Goglia et al [33] and Bačić et al [22] also reported higher A(8) on the right hand for MS 260 and MS 261, respectively. Likewise, Papandrea et al [34], in their ergonomic assessment of nine different chainsaws, reported a higher mean A(8) on the rear handle of MS 461. Although all the chainsaws were equipped with identical bars and chains, using a bigger and more powerful chainsaw resulted in a higher A (8).…”

Forestry Ergonomics Publications in the Last Decade: A Review

“…Different hand tools used in forest cleaning are deemed unsafe because of high hand-arm vibrations [10]. Chainsaw vibrations, i.e., daily vibration exposure, are not affected by the years in use of the chainsaw [37,38]. Feyzi et al [11] stated that the effect of wood species on vibration acceleration was found to be significant, while no significant influence of this factor on the vibration total value was detected.…”