This research was carried out in a carpentry in Brasília, F.D. (Brazil) aiming to evaluate the physical work load of the employees in different furniture manufacturing activities. Physical work load was obtained by assessing cardiac frequency at work. The activities performed by the ax operators were classified as heavy while those performed by the plane and circular saw operators as moderately heavy, with the remaining activities being classified as light. It was concluded that in order to achieve an adequate continuous performance at work, ax operators need to have an average break period of 16 minutes per hour, and plane operators a break periods of 2.5 minutes.
Ergonomics; physical work load; carpentry
