[The forestry work environment and its ergonomic requirements].

The paper describes chief instruments of forest production and their ergonomic requirements. The level of mechanization in the forestry production differs from high in logging and roadbuilding to a considerably lower one in silviculture, where nursery production stands out with the level of mechanization equalling that of agriculture. Ergonomic requirements greatly depend on the attitude of a particular social environment towards work safety. Some ergonomic requirements take the form of standards, recommendations or agreements. The chain saw is characterized not only by ergonomic-technical properties but also by mass, noise and vibration. Over the past three and a half decades, each of these parameters has come to conform to stricter and stricter requirements. Mass has been reduced to less than 8 kg, noise near the cutter's ear to about 100 dB(A), and the estimated acceleration transfer to the hand/arm system (WAS) below 12.5 m/s2 (frequently even below 10 m/s2).