Determining work load and demand of mechanised forestry worksystems.
Abstract
The goal of this work was to determine the loads and demands (stresses and strains) on forestry workers for specific forestry work systems in Austria. Due to the complexity of the stress structure, the four work-systems with different mechanisation levels were studied using multi-dimensional measuring instruments. The physiological performance tests did not confirm the widely established opinion that physical work activity increases the workers endurance. The physiological performance values obtained were within the generally expected range. A posture study carried out with the OVAKO Working-Posture Analyses System (OWAS-method) did not show any differences between the non- and partially mechanised systems. The most strenuous (physically damaging) work, independent of the system, were the felling, delimbing and cross-cutting work tasks. Both the heart rate monitoring results as well as the urine catecholamine results confirmed that forestry is physically hard work. However, the physical load on the forest worker decreases with increasing mechanisation. Hand delivery in general, wedging and delimbing by the felling, cross-cutting, as well as the hooking on and releasing the load in the ground-based (skidder) operations, are the activities with the highest demands. Evidence for mental and emotional stress in fully-mechanised systems could only be found in specific work situations using the results from the catecholamines, the heart rate variability and the electrodermal activity.
keywords ergonomics stress strain
Publikationen
Project staff
Anton Trzesniowski
Em.O.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Anton Trzesniowski
Project Leader
01.01.1995 - 31.05.1996
Karl Stampfer
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Karl Stampfer
karl.stampfer@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-91001, 91501, 91511
Project Staff
01.01.1995 - 31.05.1996