Ergonomics Interventions in the Manual Harvest of Wine Grapes

Abstract

Winegrape operations, especially at harvest, produce a high incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, predominantly involving back injury. The Agricultural Ergonomics Research Center of the University of California initiated a study of vineyard operations and recruited four cooperating growers representing 191 permanent workers. The goal was to develop, field-test, and evaluate interventions to reduce ergonomics risk factors for WRMSD's during winegrape harvest. We assessed pre- and post-intervention injury records and other indicators of musculoskeletal symptoms to monitor the impact of interventions on involved workers, and used biomechanical, metabolic, and postural analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches for handling cut grapes during vineyard harvest. We introduced a smaller, lighter tote bin with improved handles, reducing the average full bin load from 25.5 kg to 20.9 kg. The proportion of workers reporting pain lasting more than a week dropped from 61% to 26%. Biomechanical and metabolic assessments indicated reduced risk for WRMSD's. We are currently field-testing a conveyor system to reduce the height at which the bins are dumped.