REPETITIVE MANUAL OPERATIONS IN THE DAIRY SECTOR: ANALYSES AND CRITERIA FOR INTERVENTION

• Main Authors: Pier Riccardo Porceddu, Laura Rosati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2008-03-01
• Series: Journal of Agricultural Engineering
• Subjects: dairy, musculoskeletal disorders, Ocra method.
• Online Access: http://www.agroengineering.org/index.php/jae/article/view/122

For the health of workers it is necessary to consider, together with traditional risks (noise, vibrations, microclimate etc.), risks deriving from repetitive movements, which can generate muscolo-skeletal disorders. These risks can be found in artisan dairies, where the limited use of machinery and the rapid successive passages for processing the milk require high-frequency repetitive manual movements. The study analysed the risks of repetitive movements for workers in a dairy, using the OCRA method. Various risk-involving operations emerged, which require the re-planning of the workplace. The proposed interventions have not involved high costs for the dairy, or a loss of productivity.