FARMERS' EXPOSURE TO NOISE AND VIBRATION IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED FARMS

Abstract

Occupational noise, hand-arm and whole-body vibration are the main human health risk factors in various economic activity sectors including agriculture. Workers of agricultural sector are usually under increased risk as their exposure to these risk factors is usually longer than reference 8 hours. Moreover, most agricultural activities are related with the processes which include multiple equipment and machinery therefore noise and vibration exposure analysis is a complex issue which is usually undeservedly simplified. This problem can be emphasized by statistical data provided by State Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania. Occupational diseases registered for farmers, agricultural and forestry workers consist 16 % of all those registered in Lithuania. Four of five occupational diseases registered in Lithuania are related to vibration and noise (musculoskeletal (66 %) and hearing loss (13 %) and has the increasing tendency over the last years. These tendencies demand a deeper analysis of noise and vibration exposure of farmers and farm workers as obtained results could help to specify the strategy or procedure to reduce negative exposure effects. The results reveal that noise exposure level usually exceed exposure action value of 80 dBA while hand-arm and whole-body vibration exposure limit value of 1.15 and 5 m/s² respectively.

Keywords: exposure, hand-arm vibration, occupational noise, whole body vibration.

Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.059