Evaluation of Occupational Carrying Tasks for Farm Youth

摘要

Injuries to farm children are unique because of the types of tasks involved, the developmental issues regarding the etiology of the injury, and the potentially severe consequences of the injury. Parents often begin to involve their children in agriculture by assigning them farm maintenance and livestock feeding activities because they are deemed safer than the more complex and hazardous operation of tractors and field equipment or having direct contact with livestock. These tasks may require children to carry loads that are proportionally large and/or heavy and are often unilaterally loaded. The nature of these activities may put children at risk for acute injury or may compromise the musculoskeletal development of the child. There are currently no data available to help parents gage the risks associated with these load carriage tasks or to identify appropriate carrying procedures or limits based on the developmental level of their children. This project measured and evaluated 73 subjects in four age groups while performing a controlled carrying task. The age groups were 8-10, 12-14, 15-17 and adult. The adult group was the control group including subjects over 18 years of age. An extensive set of anthropometric measurements was collected and used in developing a set of appropriate body segment inertial parameters to complete a geometric model. A set of retro-reflective markers were placed on the body to collect the kinematic information needed for this study.