Working hours, sleep, and fatigue in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector: A scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry (AgFF) workers often work extremely long hours during peak production seasons, resulting in sleep deprivation and fatigue. The National Occupational Research Agenda has classified fatigue as a "significant safety issue" and area of concern for many industry sectors, including AgFF. This review explores current research and practice in AgFF and proposes next steps. METHODS: We conducted a scoping literature review to examine the extent and nature of research in this area. Article inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed journal articles written in English; published after 1989; covering AgFF workers in high-income countries; with data on working hours/schedules and sleep related to safety and health. RESULTS: Limited research has addressed long hours and sleep deprivation among AgFF workers. We identified 8350 articles for title and abstract review. Among those, 407 underwent full-text review and 96 met all inclusion criteria (67% agriculture, 25% fishing/seafood processing, 8% forestry). The literature provided some evidence fatigue contributes to fatalities, injuries, and illnesses in AgFF. Older, new, young, foreign-born, and female workers, as well as those who work in small organizations or longer hours (40+) may be at higher risk for fatigue-related injury and illness. Few studies have developed or evaluated interventions to control risks. DISCUSSION: Given that fatigue is a factor in injury and illness for this sector, future AgFF surveillance and research should increase efforts to capture fatigue and sleep data, directly investigate the role of long hours and nonstandard work schedules in the sector, and most importantly, create practical interventions to manage fatigue.

Characterizing exposure to physical risk factors among reforestation hand planters in the Southeastern United States.

Low back and neck/shoulder pain are commonly reported among reforestation hand planters. While some studies have documented the intensive cardiovascular demands of hand planting, limited information is available regarding exposures to physical risk factors associated with the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among hand planters. This study used surface electromyography (EMG) and inertial measurement units (IMUs) to characterize the muscle activation patterns, upper arm and trunk postures, movement velocities, and physical activity (PA) of fourteen Southeastern reforestation hand planters over one work shift. Results indicated that hand planters are exposed to physical risk factors such as extreme trunk postures (32.5% of time spent in ≥45° trunk flexion) and high effort muscle exertions (e.g., mean root-mean-square right upper trapezius amplitude of 54.1% reference voluntary exertion) that may place them at increased risk for developing MSDs. The findings indicate a need for continued field-based research among hand planters to identify and/or develop maximally effective interventions.