Degree of fatigue in individual parts of the body of professional tree climbers after the performance of their work - a survey

OBJECTIVES: Work of an arborist - tree climbing - is a dangerous activity associated with great physical effort, influenced by incorrect body posture and significantly stressed individual parts of the body. This research was initiated with the objective to draw attention to this hitherto little explored issue connected with ergonomics of the work of tree climbers. The goal of the research was to gather information about the fatigue of individual parts of the human body in professional tree climbers who access trees using so-called rope techniques (ascent to the tree crown, movement in the tree crown, descent from the tree crown) by means of a questionnaire. METHODS: The assessment included 12 body parts (8 in the upper body, 4 in the lower body), with each part being divided into right and left parts. The research was conducted in the Czech Republic, 98 respondents were professional tree climbers. The questionnaire contained two sections of questions. Questions from the questionnaire were analysed, evaluated and plotted into clear graphs which were then statistically quantitatively described. Furthermore, the linear relationship between the duration of work performance and the occurrence of fatigue in individual parts of the body was assessed (Pearson's correlation coefficients). RESULTS: Results indicated that the most stressed part of the body of tree climbers who access trees using rope techniques is the area of wrist and hands. On the other hand, the least stressed part of their body is lower leg. Furthermore, the results of Pearson's correlation analysis show that the relationship between the number of hours and the occurrence of musculoskeletal problems is weak, unstable, and nonlinear in most body segments. CONCLUSIONS: The research has shown that arborists who care for trees using rope techniques are exposed to varying degrees of fatigue in different parts of the body.