Evaluation of recommended weight handling limits for loads in seedlings production in nursery

Abstract

This work was developed in nursery seedlings production of the Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (CCA-UFES), Alegre municipality, southern of Espírito Santo State, aiming to analyze purpose loads handled by workers in nurseries activities of Eucalyptus spp seedlings production and to compare them with recommended loads limits established by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in the United States (NIOSH). All stages of the work cycle were done by manual methods. The values of the loads were handled with a precision balance. The horizontal and vertical distances between load to the body, the asymmetry angles and vertical displacements were obtained by direct measurements. The lifting frequencies were analyzed through studies of time and movement, using a time series analysis and handling difficult of evaluated loads throughout flow. According to the results, the highest loads handled by workers occurred in the substrate transport activities, trays dispatch and trays transport to increase of the seedlings resistance, which were above the recommended loads limits, requiring immediate care and corrections.