Analysis on working posture and risk evaluation on musculoskeletal disorders among workers in greenhouse vegetable plantation / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To identify the poor working posture on musculoskeletal disorders of workers in greenhouse vegetable plantation(hereinafter referred to as “vegetable workers”) in different planting stages, and to evaluate the risk grade of working posture. METHODS: A total of 28 vegetable workers in a greenhouse vegetable planting base in Shandong Province were taken as research subjects using convenient sampling method. Video data were collected from field observation. Working posture analysis system was used to code the working posture of vegetable workers. The composition of working posture was analyzed, and the risk grade of working posture was evaluated. RESULTS: In the planting and seedling period, the main poor working postures of workers were lumbar back leaning forward, legs squatting, lumbar back bending, and legs bending, and the composition ratios were 60.4%, 42.9%, 38.6% and 38.4% respectively. In the management period, the main poor working postures were neck forward, waist back bending, hands higher than elbows, and the composition ratios were 52.0%, 34.2% and 30.0% respectively. In the harvest period, the main poor working postures were neck leaning forward, one hand above elbow, lumbar back bending, walking and lumbar back leaning, and the composition ratios were 50.4%, 42.6%, 39.6%, 39.1% and 35.4% respectively. In the period of planting and seedling, management and harvest, there were 81.6%, 23.4% and 52.9% of the work position in the risk grade Ⅲ; there was 1.4% of the work position in the risk grade Ⅳ in the harvest period. CONCLUSION: Working postures with obvious hazards existed at different planting periods. Effective intervention measures should be taken to prevent the problems of poor working posture in greenhouse workers.