A pilot study on safety of movement practices on access paths of mobile machinery

The aim of the study was to examine the problems related to moving on access paths to and from the safety cabins of mobile machinery, and the applicability of available research methods in studying the issue. The study had four parts: (1) statistics of access path accidents of Finnish farmers; (2) interviews of designers and users of mobile machines; (3) detection of foot and hand contacts during ingress and egress; and (4) motion analysis of pilot trials of two subjects moving up and down on the access path of a backhoe loader. The statistics showed that about 30% of farmers' injuries associated with the use of tractors are consequences of access path accidents. More than half of the accidents lead to injuries of lower limbs, most often strains or sprains. The average duration of disability resulting from access path accidents leading to compensations was 33 days. The interviews with designers revealed that the designers need more knowledge on safety and ergonomics, and only some manufacturers systematically take user feedback into account in design. The analysis of limb contacts from video recordings showed that the operators lost the recommended three-point support several times during both ingress and egress, on an average for 49% of ingress time and 43% of egress time. Motion analysis of the pilot trials revealed possibly hazardous patterns of movements on the access path. The design of access paths should take into account the natural human movement behaviour, which still needs further research.