Abstract

RIBEIRO, Ivan Augusto Vall; TERESO, Mauro José Andrade  and  ABRAHAO, Roberto Funes. Ergonomic work analyses method in fresh tomato packing houses: manual material handling. Cienc. Rural [online]. 2009, vol.39, n.4, pp. 1073-1079.  Epub Mar 20, 2009. ISSN 0103-8478.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-84782009005000037.

The manual material handling (MMH) is the most frequent labor activity in tomato packing houses. The main goal of this paper was to analyze, under an ergonomic point of view, the MMH tasks in six fresh tomato packing houses. The ergonomic work analyses method was applied for an overall approach of work activities. The NIOSH equation was applied to calculate the recommended weight limit and a Body Discomfort Diagram was used to identify the painful body workers areas. In all cases, the actual load overcame the recommended weight limits by NIOSH.

Keywords : manual material handling; packing house; painful diagram area; NIOSH equation.