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| Biological and
Agricultural Engineering Department
University of California, Davis One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616-5294 (530) 752-0102 |
Dr. Fadi Fathallah
(530) 752-1612 fathallah@ucdavis.edu Victor Duraj (530) 752-1898 vduraj@ucdavis.edu |
MISSION:
To understand and apply ergonomic approaches to development and
evaluation of equipment designs and work practices that prevent
musculoskeletal disorders in agricultural work.
OBJECTIVES:
THE CENTER:
The Agricultural Ergonomics Research Center at UC Davis brings together a broad-based
team of faculty, professionals, and students to study the ergonomics of agricultural
work. Efforts are focused on describing ergonomic risk factors as well as design,
evaluation, and dissemination of interventions which reduce or eliminate ergonomic
risk factors with neutral or positive impact on work productivity. Evaluation
strategies include application of advanced ergonomic instrumentation, human
performance analysis, and health outcomes surveillance. Work is further guided
and assessed by cooperative input from management, labor, and public health
professionals. Results are published and shared in a variety of formats. Research
is funded by grants from private industry and by the National
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The Center's laboratory is located in the Heidrick Western Center for Agricultural Equipment on the UCD campus. Research instrumentation include the Lumbar Motion Monitor and the Greenleaf WristSystem among others. More information can be obtained from our Equipment page.
Research principals currently are faculty from UC Davis. Dr. Fadi Fathallah directs the center, and leads his own Occupational Biomechanics Laboratory in the department. BAE Professor David Slaughter and Assistant Professor Stavros Vougioukas lead research in their own BAE laboratories on work that crosses over into ergonomics and safety areas. Emeriti faculty maintain availability to consult on current projects. They include Dr. John Miles (engineering), Dr. Jim Meyers (education), and Dr. Julia Faucett (occupational health).
ERGONOMICS RISK FACTORS IN AGRICULTURE:
According to the California Department of
Industrial Relations (1992), almost half of all occupational injuries
occurred in the agricultural production area. Musculoskeletal symptoms
and injury patterns similar to those in manufacturing are found in
agricultural work (Engber, 1993; Sjoflot, 1984). Overall, almost
one-quarter of all work-connected injuries in California occurred to the
spine, making it the most frequently injured body part. An analysis of
ten years of injury data in California's agriculture (AgSafe, 1992)
reveals a similar pattern - some 43% of all reported agricultural
non-fatal disabling injuries were sprains and strains, of which 40% were
back injuries.
Studies of agricultural safety and health (Engberg, 1993; Murphy, 1992) document that agricultural work involves those risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders. Despite ongoing changes in the scale of farming operations and types of machinery involved, very little change has occurred in tasks performed by most farm workers, or with those tasks most likely to generate back injuries and CTDs. Field jobs (harvesting, weeding, irrigating, cultural practices, etc.) remain demanding physical tasks, involving stooped postures, lifting and carrying, and repetitive hand work. Meyers, et al., (1996), identified these three priority risk ergonomics factors as of general concern in California agricultural work. Research has shown that many important risk factors can be successfully addressed in agricultural work through using ergonomics principles (Lundqvist, 1992; Lundqvist, et al, 1992; Wick, 1992; Miles and Steinke, 1993; Meyers, et al, 1996).
The study "Nonfatal Occupational Injury Among California Farm Operators" (McCurdy, et al, 2004) reports that 29.4% of injuries in a telephone survey were sprains and strains and predominantly involved the back. The external cause was overexertion for 24.2% of the reported injuries. Machinery and falls were associated with 14.3% and 13.0 % of the injuries, respectively.