ERGONOMICS IN AGRICULTURE - WORKPLACE PRIORITY SETTING IN THE NURSERYINDUSTRY

Although agriculture is generally recognized as the nation's most haza rdous industry and displays high rates of musculoskeletal disorders wi th evidence to suggest that ergonomic risk factors are involved, there is very little history of application of ergonomic approaches in agri cultural workplaces. A three-year National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-supported study has been initiated in California nur series to describe and design engineering interventions for priority m usculoskeletal disorders. In this article are reported the results of the project's initial workplace job task screening for ergonomic risk factors and associated musculoskeletal disorder reports to define land mark ergonomic risk factors for the nursery industry and select prior ity job tasks for intervention.