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

Tiberiu Marogel-Popa, Marius Cheţa, Marina Viorela Marcu, Cristian Ionuţ Duţă, Florin Ioraş and Stelian Alexandru Borz
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Tiberiu Marogel-Popa: Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania
Marius Cheţa: Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania
Marina Viorela Marcu: Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania
Cristian Ionuţ Duţă: Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania
Florin Ioraş: Buckinghamshire New University, Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP11 2JZ, UK
Stelian Alexandru Borz: Department of Forest Engineering, Forest Management Planning and Terrestrial Measurements, Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering, Transilvania University of Braşov, Şirul Beethoven No. 1, 500123 Braşov, Romania

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: manual cultivation; job characterization; ergonomics; efficiency; cardiovascular workload; work intensity; risk of musculoskeletal disorders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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