Abstract
ABSTRACT Many studies on ergonomics in forestry operations are punctual and assess ergonomic variables in isolation, with each result being obtained on a specific scale. Thus, the objective of this study was to improve an ergonomic indicator through a classification according to the urgency of the ergonomic intervention, to improve its practicality of application in forest harvesting machines. This research was carried out in planted forests of a company in Southern Brazil, and based on ergonomic evaluations of a feller buncher, a skidder, a forest processor, harvesters, and forwarder machines during the day and night shifts. Vibration, noise, heat, illumination, repeatability, postures, and visibility angles were measured. The results of the ergonomic assessments were standardized by adapting the ergonomic Degree of Compliance (V) method calculated with the legislation norms, having a value between 0 and 1, and the higher the value, the greater the compliance with effective norms and guidelines. It was proposed to classify the degree of ergonomic urgency in different colors. The skidder showed the worst degrees of compliance, requiring emergency corrective measures, with an emphasis on vibrations (V 0.0 and 0.1), noise (V 0.2) and visibility in the lateral plane (V 0.0) in both shifts worked due to shocks and bumps in the machine’s movements and visibility difficulty in the operation, in addition to illumination (V 0.6) at night and heat (V 0.8) in the daytime. The forestry processor showed the best ergonomic performance without any urgencies but emphasizing care with noise (V 0.7 and 0.8) and the daily dose of vibration (V 0.8 and 0.7) in both shifts. The classification by a color scale made it possible to better interpret the indicators and facilitate the practical application of corrective ergonomic interventions.
Highlights
Mechanization in forestry operations is noticeable in recent decades, occurring in small, medium and large Brazilian companies
The use of the indicator proposed in this study enabled identifying the best and the worst machines in performing wood harvesting operations regarding ergonomic variables, and the classification of the results on a color scale enabled better interpretation of the ergonomic indicators, facilitating identification of priority variables for corrective intervention
The proposed method made it possible to identify the skidder as the wood harvesting machine with the worst ergonomic problems in performing the operation due to the vibrations caused by the bumps which occurred while moving through the field, the noise emitted by the machine, the impaired visibility and the inadequate posture adopted by the operator in the lateral plane when loading the wood
Summary
Mechanization in forestry operations is noticeable in recent decades, occurring in small, medium and large Brazilian companies. Direct benefits of this technological change include increased productivity, reduced production costs, improved quality and ergonomic conditions, as operators are less exposed to excessive physical workload and unfavorable terrain conditions, among others. It is necessary to carry out new ergonomic studies on forest machines, as works on this theme usually only contemplate the ergonomic variables individually (Fonseca et al, 2015; Häggström et al, 2016; Schettino et al, 2017), making it a challenge to correlate ergonomic variables. There is greater demand and complexity in interpreting results, depending on the knowledge of all the rules for decision making
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