Evaluation of an Ergonomically Improved Apple Bag

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DESCRIPTION: The broad, long-term objective of this study is to enhance the health and safety of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the Northeast by the development of ergonomic improvements in apple harvest equipment. Within that broad aim, the study's specific goal is to identify and rigorously test modifications to the picking bag aimed at reducing back, neck and shoulder strain related to the intensive work of harvesting apples. The proposed research is designed to: A. develop and preliminarily evaluate three ergonomic modifications to the apple harvest bag, and select the superior modification for B, a fully randomized orchard trial measuring self-reported back, neck and shoulder pain and strain outcomes. Part A will involve use of surface electromyography, force sensitive resistors and calculated low back compressive forces in both laboratory volunteers and in the orchard with apple harvester volunteers. Additionally workers will rate subjective acceptability of each of the ergonomic interventions. The bag design with high acceptability ratings by workers and demonstrated superiority at load reduction will be selected for further evaluation in part B of the study. Part B will consist of an orchard-based, randomized, placebo-controlled survey of 146 New York orchard workers during harvest. Outcomes to be analyzed will be time to first pain (survival analysis), and total pain-free work hours (linear regression modeling). Appropriate methods for this controlled trial will be developed and tested in a small-scale pilot in the first year of the study which will compare all three potential intervention designs with the traditional apple picking bag. Acceptability to harvesters working under other conditions in another region will be tested in a limited trial of the same survey methodology among apple harvesters in Washington State. In addition, the economic impact of bag use on worker picking speed, cost of intervention bag purchase, and consumer valuation of bag attributes (including ergonomic modifications) will be evaluated.