An Examination of Shoulder Postures and Moments of Force Among Different Skill Levels in the Wool Harvesting Industry

Abstract

The wool harvesting industry employs workers of varying skill levels that differ in both quality and number of harvested fleeces. As it was unknown how skill affected parameters such as joint posture and loading, the current study comparatively examined 140 wool harvesting workers representing 4 skill levels during wool harvesting competitions. Three-dimensional upper limb postures and peak and cumulative shoulder moments were calculated for each worker. Results indicated that elite wool harvesters, in general, used different shoulder postures to perform the harvesting tasks and were thus exposed to different shoulder moments as compared to the lower skill levels. It is plausible that these adopted postures allow the higher class workers to perform their job with higher quality and greater speed as compared to the lower ranked workers. Postural-based training may help improve technique in lower ranked workers and enable these workers to achieve higher ranked status.