Postural analysis of viticulture workers in pruning activity

Abstract

A study was conducted in viticulture i.e. grape farm to do the postural analysis of the workers by using conventional and improved methods. Place of study was Thukkuguda village, Hyderabad, Telangana state. Data was collected from fifteen female workers by using an observation schedule and a questionnaire. The grape varieties cultivated in this village are Manik Chaman, Ganesh and Sonaka which are dried for raisins. Results revealed that the space between the rows in the vineyard is 9ft and space between the plants is 5.6 ft with 4.9 ft height of the plants. In this region, normally pruning is done by women workers with bare hands by working for long hours in strenuous, awkward and repetitive postures with over stretching the upper body. Almost all the workers were obese in a range of 25-40 BMI. All the respondents seemed to have normal blood pressure irrespective of the age group. There was a reduction in the pinch grip fatigue due to the use of ring cutter for pruning vines. Total Cardiac Cost of Work was reduced in improved method by 2 per cent. The percentage of increase in cuts per minute by using ring cutter was 57 per cent.