We are using the term "ergonomic technology" to encompass any tool (physical or digital) that enables someone to better accomplish their tasks, including assistive technology and wearable technology.

Resources:

• Check out AgrAbility's Assistive Technology page for guidelines and resources fo assitive tech on the farm
• Check out the New Technologies for Ag Extension website
• Check out this list of mobile apps for agricultural safety and health
• Search this list of assistive tech funding resources for farmers and ranchers

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Directed by Laura Siegel

Hosted by Linda Emanuel

Edited by Matt McKenney for ProPodcastingServices.com

Special Guest: Dr. Aaron Yoder

Welcome to the Talking Total Farmer Health podcast from AgriSafe Network. At AgriSafe, we work to protect the people that feed the world by supporting the health and safety professionals, ensuring access to preventative services for farm families and the agriculture community.

So today we’re going to continue our conversation with Dr. Aaron Yoder from University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health – last time we discussed doable tips on safety when working with animals and there was some really good discussion there. This time, we’re going to dig into the ergonomics of farm and ranch work, as well as the concept of wearable technology. This is technology intended to increase wellness and decrease injuries and illnesses with a hard working producer. So I know part of your work is with AgrAbility. Let's dive a little bit more into that. What specifically do you do with AgrAbility, here in our state of Nebraska?

Yeah, so it started in graduate school, again back at Purdue, looking at the operator lifts in the assistive technology that took people from wheelchairs or from a standing position up into the cabs of tractors or combines or hay binds. Other type of equipment. So looking at how we can improve the ergonomics of that ergonomics being a wide and broad area, not just… Normally when we talk about ergonomics, people think about the funky keyboards or your office chair and they think about offices right away, but not about how we interact with other things. So interacting with the machinery that we're dealing with. So with the case of these operator lifts, it really was the buttons we press to get to go up and down, to go to go in and out. Because if we press the wrong button at the wrong time, we could put ourselves in a bad position, either fall off or get caught between the lift in a piece of equipment. So making sure those were as intuitive as possible. So some of the ergonomic stuff is really how we think about things and how we react to things. And that's really important in emergency situations. So from what I learned in that project, really bringing that to AgrAbility to look beyond just the assistive technology and what we can get to make people's jobs easier. But how we can make them easier mentally as well. Not just the physical side, but the mental side and trying to balance that out.

How about different working tools when it comes to those hand tools that farmers would use, whether it's digging holes for fence posts or hoeing their own fields? I know in the summertime my husband is always wanting to get those extra pigweeds that are sitting right next to the highway because it's for whatever method they use for weed control is not working. So what are some suggestions for some of the tools that might be out there for that?

Yeah, you know, trying out different tools. We know that tools come in many shapes and sizes as well as our bodies come in shapes and sizes. And as much as we don't like to admit it, the older we get, we have more limitations with our physical abilities, whether it's our strength. So but there are opportunities to find tools maybe with a little longer handle that gives us more leverage or that has sharp, you know, maintaining the tools that are supposed to be sharp, keeping them sharp, even shovel blades and other things like that. Sometimes we can sharpen them for certain tasks. I know I've done some work with, you mentioned garden hose and those type of things. You know what? What really do we want to do? Do we need to dig out the roots? Do we need to? Is it just chopping it off? Is there a chemical we can use to to do the same job and balancing those things to see what might be the safest and the best way for us to take care of it? But but finding tools, you know, I joke when I talk about shovels a lot that, you know, the cavemen probably strapped a rock onto a stick and we haven't changed the shovel much since then. So we looked with the with the Ergonomics for Women Project, looking at, you know, how do people actually use the tools? And we were amazed that not everybody grabs a shovel the same way. You know, some people hold it to the side, some people it's in front of them. Some people chop with it the angles that they put them in the ground.

So everybody uses a tool slightly differently. So you can either reteach the person how to use the tool or you can adapt the tool so it fits how the person is used to using it. So trying different tools, whether it be a long handled shovel or a short handle shovel, one that has a wider grip that you can put two hands on versus one if it's uncomfortable to use, it's probably not good for your body. So finding those tools that are comfortable and that don't seem as much as as much work when you're using them is a pretty good sign that it's a safer tool. To use, but making sure that we do that with all the different tools, whether it be something we're cutting, with, something we're digging with and whatever, even ratchets and wrenches and other tools like that that we use. Making sure we use them for their intended purposes. A ratchets, not a clicking hammer, you know, that type of thing that we see memes from time to time. But so making sure those tools fit us is is an important part of keeping us and then taking breaks. We don't want to do a job for too long at one time. That's one thing nice about farming is we normally rotate through different tasks. We don't do one task all day long, which would be bad for our bodies. So we do protect ourselves a little bit by rotating through different tasks during the day. But there are some opportunities we have to do a to a task for too long of a time and then not take enough breaks.

Right, so right. I've learned, and of course I don't have that build that I could be digging fence posts all day, but when I am using a shovel or a hoe or whatever it is, even switching sides, that right hand dominant, of course, I want to use that right hand. But boy, that right shoulder starts to feel it strain. So it'd be like it's even good for the brain I think, to, to switch the side.

Yeah – yeah. It's like being a two way hitter in baseball or something…

Yes! And then giving yourself time and grace to like, okay, I'm going to try this other side. Or when you go to purchase tools, make sure when you're in the store that you grab it, hold on to it and envision yourself using it. And how does it feel? Don't just settle for whatever's in the hardware store.

Yeah, and you can adapt them too. I know my youngest son makes fun of me. I did a video one time where we're talking about shovels, and I have these extra D-handles you can add halfway down the shaft, so you grab it better. And I said something like, “Even adding an extra handle could help.” So any time we pick up a shovel these days, he he regurgitates that line to me. You know, “adding an extra handle could help.” So anyhow, it's kind of funny. But it is true, you know, you can modify the tools sometimes. Some of the tools that say they're ergonomic aren't really ergonomic, or they are, you know, the snow shovels with the bent shaft. If you're throwing snow forward, they're great because you don't have to bend down. But what they do is when you go to throw it sideways, that bend creates an extra lever arm, which makes you have to twist harder to throw the stuff. So even though it's ergonomic in one situation may not be in another. So identifying a few of those things that might be mislabeled or a little confusing, again, if you were to use that piece of tool versus a regular shovel, you would notice that it's more difficult to throw the snow sideways. So you would know that it's probably not right to do that.

It's and it's so it's good to have different types of shovels based on different types of work that you're doing.

Yes. We figured out in our shovel project that there's a difference between a shovel and a spade. A spade is what you're digging in the ground with a shovel is what you transfer things with. And one works better for transferring. Normally with a shovel we think of the square mouth ones or a grain shovel versus a spade, which has a point on it. We used to call those, you know, the pointy shovels or whatever they were were really it's a spade, so terminology. But like you said, different tools for different tasks.

Right. And you that have has studied this for so long and had done the measurements, the science backs that up.

It does, Yeah, yeah, for sure.

I've seen some of those studies and it's just amazing to me. Like even the penetration in the soil and and where we live, we have very sticky clay soil, so that might require a little bit of a different shovel versus someone maybe that has that lovely fertile loam like the beautiful black dirt in Iowa that maybe not quite so hard to move into penetrate. Okay. So we've talked about livestock handling. We've talked a little bit about AgrAbility and we talked a little bit about ergonomics. So for a farmer or rancher in their shop, what are some suggestions for the storage of their tools or when they're working for a fair amount of time at their benches?

Yeah, so keeping things within reach, I think is a good idea. You know, the tools we use more often should be between our knees and our shoulders in height. When we talk about lifting and turning, you know, having a good place at, you know, waist level or a little higher to set the heavy things we're working on. So we're not reaching too high or too low if it is something heavy, having some assistance, some sort of lift or something to get it up on the working surface, working on the ground level isn't always the most fun. And again, we can listen to our bodies if we start getting our back doesn't feel good or our legs having a stool to sit on when we are working on lower things. So thinking about our body positioning a little bit, but then we talk about safety equipment a bit too, working in the shop, you know, whether we need eye protection or hearing protection, respiratory protection, having those readily available. If we have to walk, walk too far to get them, we're less likely to use them. So having the eye protection by the grinder. Having the respiratory protection or eye protection near the welder. You know, having the welding helmet close to the welder so that we don't tend to turn our head away just to do something quick that that we have the right safety equipment and and have the right tools to do the task. But keeping things within reach, keeping our work surfaces clean. I know flat surfaces tend to gather stuff. You know, we'll drop it here and take care of it later. But having enough space to work on things, having the right height is important and then having the tools where we need them.

Exactly. Anti-fatigue mats, good idea?

Yes. So the either through your footwear, sometimes you can get footwear that help with that. But having mats both for traction so you're not slipping and keeping the floor area clean. But also if you're standing in one place for a long time, it's good to have those. I like stools. You know, my back gets kind of sore if I stand for too long. So having a stool or having something to sit on as I'm doing some of the tasks can take a lot of the strain off my body when I'm doing it.

How about breaks when you're working on a piece of equipment at that work bench for long periods? What are some some good tips for as far as breaks or stretches to do in between?

Yeah. Yeah. So the same thing, get that blood flowing. You know, I talked to a farmer before that was also an EMT and he said once he did some field work long enough, he would get out and do squats next to his tractor. He'd always hide so his his brothers couldn't see him doing them, but he knew that helped get his blood circulating. So it's the same thing if we're standing at a workbench or working on a piece of equipment in the shop, making sure we walk around or that we do stand ups, squat up and down, that sort of thing, get the blood flowing through our bigger muscle groups and and that helps with the fatigue. And it also helps with how we're thinking. So the cognitive or mental side of it, you know, if we start we talk about getting in a zone or a trance. It's like when you drive for a while and then you realize, I don't remember driving the last ten miles or something like that. It's the same type of thing. So by getting moving around, taking a little break, it helps with our thinking as well.

Oh, certainly, you're exactly right. And so it's good to refresh the brain. So maybe you have a different perspective as well as helping our muscles, getting some more oxygenation to those muscles. And of course, I love yoga and stretching, so that's what I'm going to be about. Is there. What else? Let's see. What else is there to cover? Tell me what's new on the horizon? What's coming up?.

So one of the things I like to use, both with our feed yard workers and other workers, is wearable technology. So, we can use a lot of wearable technology to to measure our environment. So right now, we have some tools out there off the shelf device that's looking at noise exposure, dust exposure, repetitive motions, heat exposure and those type of thing on some cattle feed yards across Nebraska. And what we're trying to do is pick up either those near misses or good catches or some environmental things that could lead to heat illness before the heat illness actually kicks in. So measuring the environment, there are some other devices out there that measure more about you. You know, your your heart rate, your hydration levels and those type of things. Sometimes, you know, they talk about measuring, leading or lagging indicators. So lagging would be after the injury occurs, why did it happen and do some investigation? The leading would be what led up to the injury and how can we change that change of events. So I like the idea of that, injury events. We know they're preventable, but sometimes they- it's hard to predict when they're going to happen because there's so many variables where if we can measure some of these variables before the injuries occur, we might be able to prevent more of the injuries.

This is awesome. This is like so intriguing. So in what stage of development are these wearable technologies?

So the one that we're using, it's a commercially available product that's used in many other industries. So production lines, manufacturing will use this. So I like to find the technology that's already developed and how can we take it? I used to look at the fitness industry and they had a lot of devices early on when Ebola was happening at UNMC here and we were taking some of those patients. We started to work with Microsoft looking at how can we track quarantine patients and early onset of fever. And that gave me some of the ideas and concepts. We could do the same thing with heat illness because heat illness and our body temperature rise is similar to a fever event. So how can we pull that? So I look at the, the other technologies that are out there in the fitness area and some of the other areas. But now we have companies that are making things dedicated for workplaces and making workplaces safer. We just don't see it used much in agriculture yet. So trying to take some of those concepts from other industries and pulling them into to agriculture for its safety and health.

Awesome, awesome. And I know that you will make sure that these technologies are like do not hinder with the farmer has to do.

Right, right, right. And that's that's really where we're starting with the environmental monitoring because we all have concerns of there being too much data out there about us and how it could get misused in that sort of thing. So by monitoring the environment we're really trying to sell, we want your workplace to be safer. We can monitor individuals and sort of their health outcomes and that sort of thing. But we're thinking that just by monitoring the environment, we might be able to to make a significant difference. Maybe we'll get to the point where we can tell you, Hey, you're going to get sick here soon if you don't take a break or you don't drink more water, that gets a little more personal. So we need to tread kind of lightly there until we figure out how that can be used in the best possible way without any negative uses of it. But monitoring the environment seems like a pretty safe thing to do. Now, if we can, you know, one example on the cattle feed yards, the larger ones that have feed mills is the noise and the heat exposure inside those feed mills we've come to see is very high in the company that's helping us monitor this said, you know, they've seen things on feed yards that they don't see in any other industries as far as environmental exposure. So how can we help minimize that or protect the workers from those type of scenarios or those type of environments so they can work longer and stay healthier.

Of course, right? We always say a healthy farmer is a safe farmer and vice versa. So let's just use the technologies out there. And what I'm envisioning is something kind of like that Apple Watch that tells you you have it moved. Yes, you need to breathe. And of course, we these technologies aren't going to be in the way or cause extra harm to the farmer. That to me would be number one. Yes. Let's make sure that this technology is is somewhere on them or in the in the room, in the feed mill, wherever it is, and send some kind of a signal like the decibel level is way above 85. Do you have your hearing protection on?

Yeah. Yeah. So the device we're using now doesn't give any immediate feedback to the worker. It's things that the safety manager can go back and say, Hey, we need to work on this. Or if they see one worker with much higher exposures than someone else, they can go and see, well, maybe he's doing things a little differently or maybe they can change the work schedule so they're not working in the feed mill in the middle of the day. The hottest part of the day they're working. There in the morning or in the evening when when the outside conditions aren't making it worse. So trying to pick up on some of those and they have some I guess we call it artificial intelligence now built into it that tries to take all this data and make something useful out of it because we can't look at all these data points, but the computer can sift through them and say, hey, this is an outlier, this is an outlier, and how do we make this? How do we make a change that would improve the workers environment using.

Technology to help? Technology? That's awesome. That's awesome. So such exciting things. We certainly have talked about a lot, Aaron. Anything else that you would like to talk about that's exciting?

Those are the biggest things. So I really like that. You know, we're still trying to, you know, going back to making some safety demonstrations that are hands on. We used to have lots of hands on safety demonstrations and then everybody wanted to make videos or online courses and all this. And now we're finding we're circling back to some of the hands on demonstrations, like we have a small PTO safety demonstration that uses half inch drive socket sets. You know, it uses extensions and stuff like that. You use a cordless drill, which is really close to the same speed as PTO shaft. So going back to some of those hands on demonstrations so we can teach our youth maybe a reminder for people that have been working in the industry. So getting some of those type of demonstrations out there, whether it be PTO safety, ATV safety, some of those things. So looking for more and new safety demonstrations coming out, working with FFA groups and FOUR-H groups to try to get get more farm safety and ranch ag safety back out there in our curriculums that seem to have dwindled over the years.

I could see that, yeah, definitely that nothing beats that in-person type education. And of course the youth, we try we want to establish those behaviors early on for safety and understanding so that it's just natural to them to take those extra step. But what about those more seasoned farmers?

Well, that’s why I poked that in there. You know, a reminder to some of us. So, you know, we get sometimes get complacent of things. We've done. We've done it enough times that we're pretty comfortable with some of the hazards and or become more comfortable with the hazards. So, you know, still tell people and remind them to think about what you're doing, think about what could go wrong and be prepared to deal with that. So that goes along with the emergency preparedness. You know, what do we do? We were taught in school about posting the numbers to call, having directions to where people get and all that stuff. So it's always good to have a reminder. So we try to use the kids to remind the parents or the grandparents of some of these things. So when we get the kids excited about safety again, then that goes back in and and impacts many generations. I think as the kids go home and talk about things and it might make the more seasoned people think about it a little bit more.

Exactly, exactly. And I think about the females that are on these farms and ranches many times. We're the unofficial safety officers. So sometimes they have to take the extra step to put together a material safety data book with all of those chemicals they have on the farm or, you know, that ladder is really broke down. We need to get a new ladder. And what about these frayed electrical cords or the storage of chemicals? Whatever it is, I feel like we need to empower those females like “You bet, You certainly have a right to step up and to create those safety protocols.”

Yeah. And as we we get out there this spring teaching our tractor safety courses mainly with 14 and 15 year olds and a few other people, that's one of the things we tell them all the time is, is ask questions. You know, if you feel unsafe or uncomfortable doing things, ask more questions, Tell people that don't just try to suck it up and I'm going to do this no matter what. Ask questions, speak up for yourself, that sort of thing, to to make sure that you're safe and that you have a safe workplace. A lot of times we just do things, especially in the larger operations for what we say is regulatory compliance. So we're just trying to follow the laws of things we have to do, but we really need to get beyond that with safety because that's not going to prevent all the injuries that are out there. And animal handling is one good example of that. There really aren't many regulations on how to handle animals safely. We have some stuff with machinery safety and guarding and all that, but when it comes to animals, we really don't have good policies to follow for that. So making sure your company or your operation has a good list of policies, it doesn't have to be huge, but, you know, thinking about what you're doing, making sure that if you've identified any hazards that you let everybody that's working there know about them and how to minimize the impact of them.

Exactly. And just take a few minutes. What did would say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Yes.

It still goes today. Still works today. Thank you. Thank you for all of your knowledge and your expertise and willingness to, to do all the outreach that you do. I've worked alongside of you and it's just a joy to work alongside and have you interact with the people and and they feel so comfortable in talking with you. And so thank you for all of that.

You're welcome. I enjoy it, any time.

Okay folks, that’s it for today. Thank you again for tuning in to another episode. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast to hear more from AgriSafe on the health and safety issues impacting agricultural workers. If you’d like to suggest topics, or have a story you’d like to share, contact us by email at info@agrisafe.org, and title your email “TTFH Podcast.” You can also get our attention by using the hashtag "TTFHPod" on Twitter! To see more from AgriSafe, including webinars and our newsletter, visit www.agrisafe.org.

This episode was created by AgriSafe Network, directed by Laura Siegel, hosted by me, Linda Emanuel, edited by Matt McKenney for ProPodcastingServices.com, with special guest Dr. Aaron Yoder.