ABSTRACT
The load applied to the neck-and-shoulder area of vineyard workers engaged in training and pruning is regarded as a cheif factor in developing the musculoskeletal disorders of the superior limbs. This study was designed to make some contribution toward developing a program to lighten the burden of vinedressers by investigating their workload and risk factors. For this purpose, vineyard workers were recruited. Operational analyses of posture measurements were performed by the use of video clips while they (=12) were at work. Another set of methods involved interviews and questionnaires (47 man-days) which asked about their physical tiredness and which part of the body was most tired. The questionnaire survey was conducted from May to June 2009. The results revealed that the backward bending of the neck, which was forcefully sustatined for a long time and repeated frequently (82% of the working hours), and the sustained elevation of the upper limbs (the left elbow joint raised above the shoulder:56% of the working hours) were a heavy load responsible for the systemic fatigue and the muscle fatigue in the neck-and-shoulder region. Especially, the tasks that went hard with the workers included leveling young vines up to the pergola, while holding the postures with cervical retrocession or raised upper limbs at the highest place in the vineyard, and treating gibberelin, the soulutions of which were a heavy load on the upper limbs. Pruning was the most difficult operation and took a lot of time, as the workers had not recovered from fatigue with the second round of gibberlin treatment. As the measures to be taken to reduce the work loads, we though it necessary to lower the level of workplace (use of improved vine training systems and better foodholds), utilize devices to support the head and upper limbs, and to use the limbs differently (alternate use of left and right arms and hands).