A new perspective of anthropometric considerations for agricultural equipment design: a systematic review

Background and Objective : Anthropometric indicators in farmers, as important indices in designing agricultural tools and equipment, should be considered more than before. Therefore, anthropometric indicators in farmers were reviewed. In this study, all the articles including original research papers, review articles, and technical notes in the English language were studied without time limits and using the keywords of agriculture, farmer, and anthro- pometry from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Sci- ence databases. Based on the results, anthropometric indicators differed among the farmers in different countries and even those in different regions of each country. The resultsof anthropometric data in farmers were not constant over time; therefore, it is necessary to periodically measure these indicators. Different anthropometric indicators should be considered based on the design of which agri- cultural hand tools or machines. Considering the high importance of farming in the economy of each country and the high risk of musculoskeletal disorders in these occu- pations, it is critical to pay attention to the principles of ergonomics in designing agricultural tools and equipment in order to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, the latest data on the anthropometry of each region in each .Materials and Methods : The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and metaanalyses (PRISMA) method were used for the review. In this study, the articles published in the English language were searched and collected using Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Key- words were searched in all parts of the articles. The search was conducted without any time limits. The search key- words were as follows: ‘‘agriculture’’,‘‘tool’’, and ‘‘an- thropometric indicators’’; ‘‘agriculture’’, ‘‘equipment’’, and ‘‘anthropometric indicators’’; ‘‘agriculture’’, ‘‘tool’’, and ‘‘anthropometry’’; ‘‘agriculture’’, ‘‘equipment’’, and ‘‘an- thropometry’’; ‘‘farmer’’, ‘‘tool’’, and ‘‘anthropometric indicators’’; ‘‘farmer’’, ‘‘equipment’’, and ‘‘anthropometric indicators’’; ‘‘farmer’’, ‘‘tool’’, and ‘‘anthropometry’’; ‘‘farmer’’, ‘‘equipment’’, and ‘‘anthropometry’’. The total articles collected were ۹۸ studies from the desired data- bases from ۱۹۹۵ to ۲۰۱۵. After identifying the related articles, they were trans- ferred to Endnote Web in order to remove the duplicated references. Then, the abstract of the articles was reviewed and, in case of havingrelated subjects to the anthropo- metric indicators in farmers and containing sufficient information, they were added to the study; the final number of articles was equal to ۱۲. Measuring and collecting anthropometric data in farmers in the original research papers and technical notes were considered as the entry criteria and other research papers (such as review articles, reports, and unpublished articles) were excluded from the study .Results : In total, ۱۲ articles, including ۱۰ original research articles and ۲ technical notes, were collected from ۱۹۹۵ to ۲۰۱۵. The articles reviewed in this study are presented in Table ۱. According to the Fig. ۲, Africa and South Asia had the highest share of the labor force employed in the agriculture in the world in ۲۰۱۷ (Bank ۲۰۰۸; Roser ۲۰۱۳). Uganda had the same countries. These studies have also demonstrated anthropometric indicators in farmers change over time. Although using safety equipment is essential in different workplaces, a limited number of studies have reviewed both safety and ergonomics in the agricultural equipment design. Wibowo and Soni (۲۰۱۴) reported that most of thefarmers preferred safe equipment with good hand place- ment in East Java. Farmers chose tools that were strong, skin-care, comfortable handle, and easy to use (Wibowo and Soni ۲۰۱۴). Esmaielpour et al. ۲۰۱۵), prolonged static working (Kaewdok et al. ۲۰۲۰), repetition of tasks (Das ۲۰۱۴), risk of accidents, and falls on slippery and uneven walkways (Amy Osborne et al. ۲۰۱۰) are the most important causes of musculoskeletal disorders in farmers. Although using advanced and modern equipment and machinery compared to traditional methods in agriculture could greatly help prevent many musculoskeletal disorders in farmers, some new problems and injuries are emerge to using traditional In agriculture, poorly designed traditional tools are usually used, which need to be redesigned according to the measured dimensions and people’s sense of comfort towards the tools. Any improvement in the design of agricultural hand tools can significantly improve the health and safety of a large number of farmers as well as their productivity. Ergonomic interventions are necessary in correcting work-related body postures, tool design, and performing gentle movements at regular intervals in the agricultural occupation.Conclusion: From Anthropometric data collection is essential to improve worker safety. In this regard, the present study was con- ducted to investigate the anthropometric indices of farmers in order to minimize ergonomic problems and related injuries; therefore, designers of hand tools and agricultural machinery should pay special attention to the safe and ergonomic design of agricultural equipment in order to minimize musculoskeletal disorders in farmers. According to the previous data collected from different farmers, it is recommended that the agricultural equipment and tools, especially manual equipment that require more physical force than agricultural machines, should be designed according to anthropometric indicators. The anthropometric data used to design agriculture tools should be collected from farmers in each country and even in each region inside a country. Moreover, anthropometric indica- tors should be considered based on the design of which agricultural hand tools or machines. Many anthropometric indicators are age- or gender- based, and the gender and age of farmers should be con- sidered in agricultural machinery design. Using anthropo- metric indicators in agricultural hand tool design not only reduces the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders in farmers, but also provides comfort and convenience for using agricultural tools. Therefore, it could increase labor productivity.

Keywords:

Anthropometry , Ergonomics , Musculoskeletal disorders , Agriculture , Systematic review