Assessing the Impact of Work Activities on the Physiological Load in a Sample of Loggers in Sicily (Italy)

Federica Masci, Giovanna Spatari, Sara Bortolotti, Concetto Mario Giorgianni, Laura Maria Antonangeli, John Rosecrance and Claudio Colosio
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Federica Masci: Department of Health Sciences, International Centre for Rural Health of the Santi Paolo e Carlo ASST of Milan, University of Milan, 20142 Milano, Italy
Giovanna Spatari: Department of Biomedical, Dental and Morphological and Functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy
Sara Bortolotti: University of Milan, 20122 Milano, Italy
Concetto Mario Giorgianni: Department of Biomedical, Dental and Morphological and Functional Imaging, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy
Laura Maria Antonangeli: University of Milan, 20122 Milano, Italy
John Rosecrance: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Claudio Colosio: Department of Health Sciences, International Centre for Rural Health of the Santi Paolo e Carlo ASST of Milan, University of Milan, 20142 Milano, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-12

Abstract: Occupational logging activities expose workers to a wide range of risk factors, such as lifting heavy loads, prolonged, awkward positioning of the lower back, repetitive movements, and insufficient work pauses. Body posture has an important impact on the level of physiological load. The present study involved a group of 40 loggers in the province of Enna (Sicily, Italy) with the aim of defining the impact of logging activities on the workers’ physiological strain during the three primary work tasks of felling, delimbing, and bucking. The Zephyr Bioharness measurement system was used to record trunk posture and heart rate data during work tasks. The NASA TLX questionnaire was used to explore workers’ effort perception of the work tasks. Based on our results, the most demanding work task was tree felling, which requires a higher level of cardiac cost and longer periods spent in awkward trunk postures. The perceived physiological workload was consistently underestimated, especially by the more experienced loggers. Lastly, as the weight of the chainsaw increased, the cardiac load increased.

Keywords: biomechanical overload; heart rate; loggers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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