Development of an Ergonomic Checklist for the Investigation of Work-related Lower Limb Disorders in Farming - ALLA: Agricultural Lower-Limb Assessment

Objective: To develop an ergonomic evaluation tool which can be apply to assess the lower-limb postures associated with farming tasks. Background: In general, most of existing ergonomic assessment tools was developed to investigate the work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper-limb postures in manufacturing industry. Methods: As the first step of development of the evaluation tool, 13 lower-limb postures that were commonly observed in farming task were investigated by the subjective discomfort ratings, heart rates, and muscle activities. And then, an ergonomic evaluation tool for the lower-limb postures was developed based on results of the first experiment. Lastly, the ergonomic checklist which was developed in the current study was compared with other existing ergonomic assessment tools. Results: Based on the results of comparisons between a newly developed assessment tool and other existing assessment tools, it was found that a newly developed tool can perceive more sensitively for the various lower-limb postures than other assessment tools. Conclusions: Lower-limb posture assessment tool which can evaluate and assess risks of lower-limb WMSDs which were prevalent in farming tasks more easily and accurately was developed in this study. The lower-limb assessment tool can also be utilized to prevent WMSDs related with lower-limbs as well as improve working environments.