Avaliação das condições biomecânicas na avicultura de corte: um estudo na atividade de aquecimento de aviários

Abstract

The objective of this work is to research, taking as base the broiler producers in a company located in Western Paraná-Brazil, evaluating the biomechanical conditions during the firewood acquisition using the chainsaw. It has the objective of diagnosing the firewood acquisition checking the used chainsaw operation conditions and whether they are according to the safety standards, the individual protection equipment, if the workers receive any training and what kind of labor is done. The data collection was carried out by applying a form to 192 of 379 broilers producers that the company has, which represents a significant sampling obtained by statistical methods, which provides a 95% trustful results. The results show that the cut work of the firewood in standardized sizes for use in wood stoves of the aviaries does not provide favorable health working conditions for the workers, considering the accident risks, because they use the chainsaw without some of the safety equipment required, they do not have any training concerning the operation of the equipment and security, ignoring the obligatory use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), being, thus, exposed to the inherent risks of this task, without the adequate protection. The poultry is a dynamic activity, it means that during the production cycle of birds it is necessary to perform a range of tasks, and visiting the field it was found that producers use basically two systems of heating - gas and wood. Through a survey done with the producer it was concluded that 31% of broilers producers use firewood stove as the only source of heating; 53% use wood and gas heating devices and only 16% use as the only heating source the gas. Due to the production system described above, it was deduced that producers that use wood heating system would be likely to develop musculoskeletal problems, mainly caused by the use of the chainsaw. This supposition is confirmed through the application of the painful areas diagram proposed by Corlett and Manenica, analyzed by the OWAS methodology and characterized, in activities that perform weight lifting, by the NIOSH equation. However, the results obtained by analyzing both heating systems were much closed: 73% and 76%, respectively, of workers reported feeling some discomfort. Therefore, it was not possible to conlude that the activities performed during the wood heating system are the main reason of pains. This result is an indication that the junction of the tasks developed during the broiler production, including the activities performed during heating, are causing a musculoskeletal damage, causing a high incidence of back pain, mainly in the middle back and lower back region.