Community Partners for Healthy Farming Intervention Research

Funding Period: 1999-2003

States involved in project: California

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are rising in incidence and account for a majority of workers' compensation dollars. There is evidence that these injuries result, "from repeated biomechanical stress due to ergonomic hazards" (US Department of Labor). Participative interventions which were focused on engineering controls to eliminate or reduce hazards have been shown to be effective. Previous work with California wine-grape vineyard workers has indicated very high rates of incidence of MSDs (80/1000 workers/year). This is more than ten times the target rate stated in Healthy People 2000. Of the MSDs discovered in workers in cooperating companies, 70% were back injuries. Together with owner/operators and workers, we have determined that lifting and carrying cut grapes to trailers during harvest involves the most severe MSD back injury hazards.

We propose to work with owner/operators, workers, and others to apply and assess the preventive efficacy of applications of previously validated approaches for handling cut grapes in wine-grape harvest. The goal is to demonstrably reduce or eliminate ergonomic risk factors for identified MSDs, reducing resulting injury. The project will be cooperatively planned, implemented, and evaluated with wine-grape workers, owner/operators, and other community members.

Partners, including Clos du Bois, Domaine Chandon, Kenwood, and Walsh Vineyard Management in California's Napa and Sonoma Counties, have helped to develop this proposal and are committed to participation. Target beneficiaries are farm workers, an underserved population cited in the National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives (Healthy People 2000; 1991) as a Special Target Population. Evaluation will be based on comparative pre- and post-intervention ergonomic stress data, MSD pain & symptom data, and adoptability data. Priority will be on intervention via engineering controls involving handling of cut grapes. Objectives are:

1. Confirm cooperating partners from vineyard industry and community groups.
2. Cooperatively assess the incidence of MSDs and MSD symptoms associated with harvest work among participating wine-grape vineyard workers.
3. Cooperatively apply biomechanical, metabolic, and postural stress analyses to manual handling of cut grapes during harvest.
4. Cooperatively assess known alternative technologies for handling of cut grapes.
5. Cooperatively develop task and tool modifications for handling cut grapes, which eliminate or significantly reduce identified MSD hazards.
6. Cooperatively apply biomechanical, metabolic, and postural analysis to interventions.
7. Cooperatively plan and conduct intervention trials with owner/operators and workers.
8. Cooperatively measure post-intervention indication of impact of interventions on incidence of MSDs and symptoms with involved workers.
9. Cooperatively assess productivity impacts and "adoptability" of interventions.
10. Cooperatively evaluate intervention trials and compare with pre-intervention data.
11. Cooperatively communicate project findings to vineyard and other agricultural industry groups, workers, and others with direct interests.
12. Report project findings in appropriate research and professional publications.

• Agricultural Ergonomics Research Center
  http://ag-ergo.ucdavis.edu

NOTE: This document is provided for historical purposes only.