Evaluation of human postures during work in coffee crops in the Southern region of Minas Gerais

Abstract

Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world and Minas Gerais is the state responsible for 51.14% of this production, corresponding to 1.55 million tons of beans. In this context, contribution from family farming is signifcant. The aim of this work was to use a multivariate statistical methodology to provide plausible and interpretable results to diagnose the most influential body postures for each worker in coffee crops. Twelve workers were observed during a period of one hour in different tasks. Greater variability of body posture was shown during herbicide application on sloping ground. Despite body postural variability among workers during the tasks, some body postures, like 131 and 231, stood out. The proposed methodology allowed to identify the most influential body postures for each worker in an ergonomic point of view, and to aware the workers about the importance of adequate body postures during the tasks of coffee harvesting and post harvesting to avoid health damage.