Abbiamo partecipato, insieme al CRA-ING, ErgoCert e PAN-PAN Edizioni, alla stesura del Paper “INTRAC: a research project on the integration of safety elements with ergonomics in the design of agricultural machinery” che è stato inserito negli Atti di RAGUSA SHWA 2012 “Safety Health and Welfare in Agro-food Agricultural and Forest Systems”.

Abstract

Designing agricultural machinery firstly takes into account the specific technical aims the machine has to reach. Only then, if a compulsory standard exists, the safety aspects related to the operator, the environment and the road circulation are carefully introduced in the design in order to not penalize the main performance. Generally, the most evident and frequent risks are considered, and rarely the possible causes of occupational diseases – that are more subtle to detect, but unfortunately, irreversible – are considered.

The present research project aims to analyze and to propose methods and models to assess the level of integration of technical and safety aspects in the designs of different working place of agricultural machineries. Vibration, noise, microclimate conditions and ergonomics will be taken into account and innovative assessment methods, for the agricultural sector, will be introduced.