Smaller loads reduce risk of back injuries during wine grape harvest | Zendy

James M. Meyers | Zendy; John A. Miles | Zendy; Julia Faucett | Zendy; Fadi A. Fathallah | Zendy; Ira Janowitz | Zendy; Rhonda Smith | Zendy; Ed Weber | Zendy

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Smaller loads reduce risk of back injuries during wine grape harvest

Author(s) -

James M. Meyers,

John A. Miles,

Julia Faucett,

Fadi A. Fathallah,

Ira Janowitz,

Rhonda Smith,

Ed Weber

Publication year - 2006

Publication title -

california agriculture

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.472

H-Index - 25

eISSN - 2160-8091

pISSN - 0008-0845

DOI - 10.3733/ca.v060n01p25

Subject(s) - medicine , environmental health , productivity , work (physics) , back injury , incidence (geometry) , business , toxicology , engineering , biology , mathematics , economics , mechanical engineering , geometry , macroeconomics

Hand-harvest work in wine grape vineyards is physically demanding and exposes workers to a variety of ergonomics risk factors. Analysis of these exposures together with data on reported work-related injuries points to the risk of back injury as a prevention priority, in particular the lifting and carrying of tubs of cut grapes (weighing up to 80 pounds) during harvest. Our study evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention — the use of a smaller picking tub — on the incidence of musculoskeletal symptoms among workers during two harvest seasons. Reducing the weight of the picking tub by about one-fifth to below 50 pounds resulted in a five-fold reduction in workers' postseason musculoskeletal symptom scores, without significant reductions in productivity.

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