Evaluación del factor de riesgo biomecánico en los agricultores durante la cosecha de papas

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the biomechanical risk factors in farmers during the potato harvest. The methodology used had a quantitative, descriptive approach under a non-experimental design, with the participation of 15 farmers from the Píllaro canton, to whom a clinical record was applied, a work questionnaire and the Rapid Evaluation of the Whole Body (REBA) method was used for the ergonomic evaluation; the data were collected and analyzed through the Kinovea, Microsoft Excel and SPSS programs. The results of the REBA method showed that, of the four tasks evaluated, the transfer of the fina l product (A4) is the only activity that presents a very high risk of suffering musculoskeletal alterations with a score of 11, assuming that it is due to the load that the farmers bear when transferring the sack of potatoes, However, the three remaining tasks (hoe lifting, soil removal and potato harvesting) also presented a high risk of suffering biomechanical alterations due to the postures adopted when performing these activities. Factors such as age, sex, schooling, daily work, use of hand tools, inadequate postural management and repetitive movements were associated with a higher risk of suffering these injuries. It is recommended that ergonomic physiotherapeutic interventions be implemented in a short period of time in people engaged in this activity