Abstract
Poplar forests are cultivated worldwide on extended areas, contributing to the provision of wood for industries. Their management is intensive, especially in planting operations which are done, in many parts of the world, by the use of manual labor. This situation raises the question on their sustainability from an ergonomics point of view. Particularly, the postural risk is in question, as uncomfortable work postures may cause musculo-skeletal disorders. Two types of planting operations (large cutting—CP and bare-root seedling—SP) were selected as representatives for the evaluation of postural risks which was carried out for 14 subjects. Based on the analysis of approximately 14,500 images (approximately 67 h of field study), the postural risk indexes were estimated at 259 and 250 for the CP and SP, respectively. No significant differences were found between the operations, but the high share of effective planting tasks and their associated postural risk indexes generated these concerning results. The main conclusion is that these kinds of planting operations need postural improvement and ways for doing so should be researched in the future.
Highlights
The cultivated poplar forests stand for a valuable source of wood for industrial and individual house-hold use, and they hold an important potential to contribute to the satisfaction of the increasing demand of lignocellulosic raw materials
While the postures assumed by the subjects in these events (Rest) are not constrained by the specific job tasks, the results indicate that further research is needed to be able to compare and differentiate more clearly between the inputs and outcomes of specific data sets analyzed by using the Ovako Working posture Analysis System (OWAS) method
By keeping the current situation, there is little room for improvement, as the effective planting stands for the main task specific to the studied planting operations and it accounts for the greatest share in the analyzed data
Summary
The cultivated poplar forests stand for a valuable source of wood for industrial and individual house-hold use, and they hold an important potential to contribute to the satisfaction of the increasing demand of lignocellulosic raw materials They are cultivated on extended areas [1,2] using fast-growing trees by operations which could be regarded as being more labor intensive compared to those specific to the traditional close-to-nature management of forests; that’s because the typical sequence includes soil preparation, planting, fertilization, irrigation, and weed control operations [3], which are followed by regular harvesting operations such as thinning and clear-cutting [4]. In Romania, as well as in other Eastern European countries, partly mechanized systems are still dominating the scene of forest operations [10] This applies to the planting operations of fast-growing poplar forests where the use of manual labor is still intensive. Exposure to risks of developing musculo-skeletal disorders may be one of the most critical currently-faced problems of manual work, especially in forest operations, which are developed outdoors and are generally recognized to be among the most difficult ones [14]
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