The effects of working height and manipulated weights on subjective strain, body posture and muscular activity of milking parlor operatives – Laboratory study

The incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among milking parlor operatives has increased while milking parlors were getting bigger. At the same time parlor design was improved regarding the physical load as well as body postures.In contrast to former studies on workload in parlor milking this project was designed and performed as an experimental study in a laboratory setting including 6 female subjects. Motion analysis and psycho-physiological analysis (EMG, heart rate, subjective perceived strain index) were carried out. Intra-individual comparisons were made for the different settings using general linear models for repeated measurements. The effects of working height and weight of milking unit during parlor milking were investigated regarding the impact on muscular load and body posture. The results showed that the optimal working height for attaching the cluster is having the teats at shoulder level of the parlor operative. Another important workload reduction was achieved by reducing the weight of the milking cluster.The named discomfort, localized fatigue and the body posture analysis provide evidence that the changes in modern milking parlors due to mechanization still bear the risk of overburden for the worker.

► We measure effects of changes in working height and cluster weight in milking parlors.
► Helps understanding the impact of parlor design, anthropometrics and bovimetrics.
► Advice to improve workplace dimensions and implementation can be drawn from results.