Safety and Health at Work

Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (산업안전보건연구원)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Ergonomic Evaluation of Young Agricultural Operators Using Handle Equipment Through Electromyography and Vibrations Analysis Between the Fingers

  • Federico Roggio (Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science, School of Medicine, University of Catania) ;
  • Ermanno Vitale (Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Occupational Medicine, University of Catania, Occupational Medicine) ;
  • Veronica Filetti (Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Occupational Medicine, University of Catania, Occupational Medicine) ;
  • Venerando Rapisarda (Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Occupational Medicine, University of Catania, Occupational Medicine) ;
  • Giuseppe Musumeci (Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, Section of Anatomy, Histology and Movement Science, School of Medicine, University of Catania) ;
  • Elio Romano (Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics)
  • Received : 2022.01.26
  • Accepted : 2022.07.25
  • Published : 2022.12.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: Agricultural handle equipment is present on all production areas' farms. They are handy and portable; however, excessive use can lead to acute traumas or accidental injuries. Repetitive movements, awkward postures, and hand-arm vibrations predispose them to pain and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this study was to observe the interaction of handle equipment in terms of electromyographic activity and analyze the postural work-related alterations. Materials and methods: Twenty male agricultural operators, mean age 24±1.54 years, underwent the electromyographic analysis testing their muscular activities with a brushcutter, electric saw, and hedge trimmer in four different test conditions. Results: The brushcutter proved to be the agricultural handle equipment with the higher mean frequency (3.37±0.38 Hz) and root mean square (5.25±1.24 ms-2). Furthermore, the digital postural analysis showed a general asymmetry of the main arm and the respective side of the trunk. The head resulted right inclined in the anterior frontal plane by 5.7°±1.2°; the right scapula lower than the left in the posterior frontal plane (8.5°±1.8°), and a working trunk inclination of 34.15°±5.7°. Conclusions: Vibrations of handle equipment and awkward working postures represent a risk for agricultural operators. Preventive measures are required to avoid young operators from experiencing musculoskeletal disorders all lifelong.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the University Research Project Grant (PIACERI Found-NATURE-OA, 2020-2022), Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences (BIOMETEC), University of Catania, Italy

References

  1. Momeni Z, Choobineh A, Razeghi M, Ghaem H, Azadian F, Daneshmandi H. Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among agricultural workers: a cross-sectional study in Iran. J Agromedicine 2020;25(3):339-48. https://doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2020.1713273
  2. Ahmad MT, Tang L, Steward BL. Automated mechanical weeding. In: Young SL, Pierce FJ, editors. Automation: The future of weed control in cropping systems. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2014. p. 125-37.
  3. Pannacci E, Tei F. Effects of mechanical and chemical methods on weed control, weed seed rain and crop yield in maize, sunflower and soyabean. Crop Prot 2014;64:51-9.
  4. Peruzzi A, Ginanni M, Fontanelli M, Raffaelli M, Barberi P. Innovative strategies for on-farm weed management in organic carrot. Renewable Agric Food Syst 2007;22(4):246-59. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170507001810
  5. Colantoni A, Sirio C, Vello M, Dell'Antonia D, Malev O, Gubiani R. Risk analysis of agricultural, forestry and green maintenance working sites. Contemp Eng Sci 2015;8:1257-66.
  6. Monarca D, Cecchini M, Guerrieri M, Santi M, Bedini R, Colantoni A. Safety and health of workers: exposure to dust, noise and vibrations. Acta Horticulturae 2009;845:437-42.
  7. Okubo N, Nakagawa H, Furuya K, Toi T. Vibration reduction of brush cutter. Proceedings of the 31st IMAC, A conference on structural dynamics. Springer; 2014. p. 225-33.
  8. Mohan D, Patel R. Design of safer agricultural equipment: Application of ergonomics and epidemiology. Int J Ind Ergon 1992;10(4):301-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-8141(92)90097-J
  9. Lings S, Leboeuf-Yde C. Whole-body vibration and low back pain: a systematic, critical review of the epidemiological literature 1992-1999. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2000;73(5):290-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004200000118
  10. Rosecrance J, Rodgers G, Merlino L. Low back pain and musculoskeletal symptoms among Kansas farmers. Am J Ind Med 2006;49(7):547-56. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20324
  11. Shen SC, House RA. Hand-arm vibration syndrome: What family physicians should know. Can Fam Physician 2017;63(3):206-10.
  12. McCurdy SA, Samuels SJ, Carroll DJ, Beaumont JJ, Morrin LA. Agricultural injury in California migrant Hispanic farm workers. Am J Ind Med 2003;44(3):225-35. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.10272
  13. Lopez-Aragon L, Lopez-Liria R, Callejon-Ferre A-J, Perez-Alonso J. Musculoskeletal disorders of agricultural workers in the greenhouses of Almeria (Southeast Spain). Saf Sci 2018;109:219-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.05.023
  14. Holmberg S, Stiernstrom EL, Thelin A, Svardsudd K. Musculoskeletal symptoms among farmers and non-farmers: a population-based study. Int J Occup Environ Health 2002;8(4):339-45.
  15. Cerruto E, Manetto G, Schillaci G. Vibration produced by hand-held olive electrical harvesters. J Agric Eng 2012;43(2):e12.
  16. Deboli R, Calvo A, Preti C, Inserillo M. Design and test of a device for acceleration reproducibility of hand held olive harvesters. Int J Ind Ergon 2014;44:581-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2014.05.007
  17. Calvo A, Romano E, Preti C, Schillaci G, Deboli R. Upper limb disorders and hand-arm vibration risks with hand-held olive beaters. Int J Ind Ergon 2018;65:36-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2018.01.018
  18. Bernardi B, Quendler E, Benalia S, Mantella A, Zimbalatti G. Occupational risks related to vibrations using a brush cutter for green area management. Ann Agric Environ Med 2018;25(2):255-8. https://doi.org/10.26444/aaem/75684
  19. Bioelettronica O. User manual v 1.42 EMG-USB 2013 [Available from: https://www.otbioelettronica.it/index.php?preview=1&option=com_dropfiles&format=&task=frontfile.download&catid=53&id=33&Itemid=1000000000000.
  20. Gazzoni M, Afsharipour B, Merletti R. Surface EMG in ergonomics and occupational medicine. Surf Electromyogr : Physiol Eng Appl 2016:361-91.
  21. Bonato P, Gagliati G, Knaflitz M. Analysis of myoelectric signals recorded during dynamic contractions. IEEE Eng Med Biol Mag 1996;15(6):102-11. https://doi.org/10.1109/51.544517
  22. Molinari F, Knaflitz M, Bonato P, Actis MV. Electrical manifestations of muscle fatigue during concentric and eccentric isokinetic knee flexion-extension movements. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2006;53(7):1309-16. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2006.873680
  23. Gonzalez-Izal M, Malanda A, Navarro-Amezqueta I, Gorostiaga EM, Mallor F, Ibanez J, Izquierdo M. EMG spectral indices and muscle power fatigue during dynamic contractions. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2010;20(2):233-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2009.03.011
  24. Cifrek M, Medved V, Tonkovic S, Ostojic S. Surface EMG based muscle fatigue evaluation in biomechanics. Clin Biomech 2009;24(4):327-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2009.01.010
  25. Peterson D, Asaki T, Kudernatsch S, Brammer A, Cherniack M, editors. Incorporating a finger adapter into iso 10819 assessments to measure the vibration transmissibility of gloves at the fingers. Proceedings of the 4th American Conference on Human Vibration ACHV; 2014.
  26. Seman MT, Hamid MNA, Noor NMN. Hand arm vibration of coconut grater machine. Int J Innovative Technol Exploring Eng 2019.
  27. Roggio F, Ravalli S, Maugeri G, Bianco A, Palma A, Di Rosa M, Musumeci G. Technological advancements in the analysis of human motion and posture management through digital devices. World J Orthop 2021;12(7):467-84. https://doi.org/10.5312/wjo.v12.i7.467
  28. Hermanns I, Raffler N, Ellegast R, Fischer S, Gores B. Simultaneous field measuring method of vibration and body posture for assessment of seated occupational driving tasks. Int J Ind Ergon 2008;38:255-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2007.05.007
  29. Truta A, Cristea F, Arghir M. The influence of brush cutters vibrations on human body. Adv Eng Forum 2013;8-9:445-52. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AEF.8-9.445
  30. Tian W, Lv Y, Liu Y, Xiao B, Han X. The high prevalence of symptomatic degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis in Chinese adults: a population-based study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2014;39(16):1301-10. https://doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0000000000000396
  31. Hartman E, Oude Vrielink HHE, Huirne RBM, Metz JHM. Risk factors for sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders among self-employed Dutch farmers: a case-control study. Am J Ind Med 2006;49(3):204-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20276
  32. Vihlborg P, Pettersson H, Makdoumi K, Wikstrom S, Bryngelsson IL, Selander J, Graff P. Carpal tunnel syndrome and hand-arm vibration: a Swedish national registry case-control study. J Occup Environ Med 2022.
  33. Nieradko-Iwanicka B. Hand-arm vibration syndrome. Reumatologia 2019;57(6):347-9. https://doi.org/10.5114/reum.2019.90364
  34. Aarhus L, Veiersted KB, Nordby KC, Bast-Pettersen R. Neurosensory component of hand-arm vibration syndrome: a 22-year follow-up study. Occup Med (Lond) 2019;69(3):215-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqz029
  35. Guglielmino C, Musumeci G. Early elbow osteoarthritis in competitive enduro motorcyclist. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2020;30(7):1287-90. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13664
  36. Thota J, Kim E, Freivalds A, Kim K. Development and evaluation of attachable anti-vibration handle. Appl Ergon 2022;98:103571.
  37. Xu XS, Welcome DE, McDowell TW, Warren C, Service S, Lin H, Chen Q, Dong RG. An investigation of the effectiveness of vibration-reducing gloves for controlling vibration exposures during grinding handheld workpieces. Appl Ergon 2021;95:103454.
  38. Anker LC, Weerdesteyn V, van Nes IJW, Nienhuis B, Straatman H, Geurts ACH. The relation between postural stability and weight distribution in healthy subjects. Gait Posture 2008;27(3):471-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2007.06.002
  39. Punnett L, Fine LJ, Keyserling WM, Herrin GD, Chaffin DB. Back disorders and nonneutral trunk postures of automobile assembly workers. Scand J Work Environ Health 1991;17(5):337-46. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.1700
  40. Hoogendoorn WE, Bongers PM, de Vet HC, Douwes M, Koes BW, Miedema MC, Ariens GA, Bouter LM. Flexion and rotation of the trunk and lifting at work are risk factors for low back pain: results of a prospective cohort study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2000;25(23):3087-92. https://doi.org/10.1097/00007632-200012010-00018
  41. Coenen P, Kingma I, Boot CR, Twisk JW, Bongers PM, van Dieen JH. Cumulative low back load at work as a risk factor of low back pain: a prospective cohort study. J Occup Rehabil 2013;23(1):11-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-012-9375-z
  42. Zambon I, Piergentili A, Salvati L, Monarca D, Matyjas-Lysakowska P, Colantoni A. Applied Research for a safer future: exploring recent job accidents in agriculture, Italy (2012-2017). Processes 2018;6(7).