Risk Assessment for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Forestry: A Comparison between RULA and REBA in the Manual Feeding of a Wood-Chipper

Margherita Micheletti Cremasco, Ambra Giustetto, Federica Caffaro, Andrea Colantoni, Eugenio Cavallo and Stefano Grigolato
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Margherita Micheletti Cremasco: Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy
Ambra Giustetto: Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Torino, Italy
Federica Caffaro: Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce, 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
Andrea Colantoni: Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University, Via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Eugenio Cavallo: Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Strada delle Cacce, 73, 10135 Torino, Italy
Stefano Grigolato: Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, Università degli Studi di Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35040 Padova, Italy

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: The analysis of the postural attitude of workers during the interaction with workstation’s elements and working environment is essential in the evaluation and prevention of biomechanical overload risk in workplaces. RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) and REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) are the two easiest methods for postural risk assessment in the workplace. Few studies investigated postural risk in forestry sector with regard to human–machine interaction, in particular manually fed wood-chippers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the postures assumed by an operator during the manual feeding of a wood-chipper, and to compare RULA and REBA, in order to identify the more effective and appropriate method for the assessment of the risk of biomechanical postural overload. The results pointed out several postural issues of the upper limbs, and showed that RULA is a more precautionary method to protect operator’s health during the targeted tasks. Implications to improve the human–wood-chipper interaction are discussed.

Keywords: ergonomics; forestry; postural risk assessment; RULA; REBA; wood-chipper (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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