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An Electromyographical Approach to Evaluate the Effect of Load on Agricultural Worker during Push–Pull Operation

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Abstract

Purpose

An electromyography (EMG) study was conducted during push and pull operations to evaluate the muscle fatigue of agricultural farm workers.

Methods

Twelve medically fit agricultural workers were selected for evaluation of muscular activity during push–pull operations, with the help of a laboratory setup, which was developed based on the ergonomic criteria of the uniform force application. The most used muscle during push and pull operation (middle deltoid MD, triceps brachii TR, brachioradialis BR, and biceps brachii BI) was selected for an EMG study. The uniform force or load (50, 100, 150, and 200 N) was applied during the experiment.

Results

The most activated or used muscles during the pushing and pulling operation were TR and BR, respectively. The activity of the middle deltoid and triceps brachii muscles was more during the pushing than the pulling task.

Conclusion

Root mean square (RMS) values for EMG activity were found to increase with increasing load in all the selected muscles, indicating that muscular loads were affected by the external load. A load of 200 N was found difficult to operate compared to other selected loads for push–pull operation for all the subjects. The TR muscle gets more fatigued during pushing because it is responsible for elbow extension, which is a primary movement in pushing. The BR muscle gets more fatigued because it is more activated during pull force application.

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Data Availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, AICRP on Ergonomics and Safety in Agriculture, India, for funding this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, MP, 462 038, India

    Sweeti Kumari & Ramesh K. Sahni

  2. Agricultural and Food Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

    Sweeti Kumari, V. K. Tewari & Sanjeev Kumar

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  1. Sweeti Kumari
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  2. V. K. Tewari
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Correspondence to Sweeti Kumari.

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Conceptualization, Data collection, Analysis and Writing original draft preparation - Sweeti Kumari and Sanjeev Kumar Writing, Review and Editing - Sweeti Kumari, Sanjeev Kumar and Ramesh Kumar Sahni Project administration - V.K. Tewari.

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Kumari, S., Tewari, V.K., Kumar, S. et al. An Electromyographical Approach to Evaluate the Effect of Load on Agricultural Worker during Push–Pull Operation. J. Biosyst. Eng. 48, 402–411 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-023-00200-1

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