Maina G, Rossi F, Baracco A
a Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences , University of Turin , Turin , Italy.
b Department of Public Health and Paediatric Sciences , University of Turin , Turin , Italy.
J Agromedicine. 2016;21(2):209-14. doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2016.1141132.
Beekeepers are at particular risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders, but many of the studies lack detailed exposure assessment. To evaluate the biomechanical overload exposure in a specific farming activity, a multitasking model has been developed through the characterization of 37 basic operational tasks typical of the beekeeping activity. The Occupational Repetitive Actions (OCRA) Checklist and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Lifting Index methodologies have been applied to these elementary tasks to evaluate the exposure, and the resulting risk indices have been time-weighted averaged. Finally, an easy access, computer-assisted toolkit has been developed to help the beekeepers in the biomechanical risk assessment process. The risk of biomechanical overload for the upper limbs ranges from acceptable (maintenance and recovery of woody material and honey packaging with dosing machine tasks) to high (distribution of the top supers) risk level. The risk for back injury is always borderline in women and increases with exposure time, whereas it ranges from acceptable to borderline in men. The definition of the biomechanical risk levels allows for planning of corrective actions aimed at preventing and reducing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders through engineering, administrative, and behavioral interventions. The methodology can be used for risk assessment in other mainly manual agricultural activities.
养蜂人患与工作相关的肌肉骨骼疾病的风险尤其高，但许多研究缺乏详细的暴露评估。为了评估特定养殖活动中的生物力学过载暴露情况，通过对养蜂活动中37项典型基本操作任务进行特征描述，开发了一种多任务模型。已将职业重复动作（OCRA）检查表和美国国家职业安全与健康研究所（NIOSH）的提举指数方法应用于这些基本任务以评估暴露情况，并对所得风险指数进行了时间加权平均。最后，开发了一个易于使用的计算机辅助工具包，以帮助养蜂人进行生物力学风险评估过程。上肢生物力学过载风险范围从可接受（使用定量机进行木质材料维护和回收以及蜂蜜包装任务）到高风险水平（分配顶层继箱）。女性背部受伤风险始终处于临界状态，且随暴露时间增加，而男性的风险范围从可接受至临界。生物力学风险水平的定义有助于规划纠正措施，旨在通过工程、行政和行为干预来预防和降低肌肉骨骼疾病的风险。该方法可用于其他主要为体力劳动的农业活动中的风险评估。
