ERGONOMIC AND SAFETY CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT OF TRACTORS USED BY SMALLHOLDERS ACCORDING TO BRAZILIAN LEGISLATION AND CURRENT STANDARDS

ABSTRACT This article aimed to select items with which to evaluate the ergonomic and safety conditions in tractors used by smallholders and family farmers, based on standardization research and legislation for the sector. Brazil has a comprehensive set of technical standards and legislation for the agricultural machinery sector intended to guarantee product standardization and to promote the health and safety of the users. Therefore, the initial step of this research was to review the technical norms and legislation for the product in order to develop instruments to assess their ergonomic and safety conditions. Twenty-eight Brazilian Technical Standards (NBR) and four Regulatory Norms (NRs) were investigated, in addition to CONTRAN (the Brazilian Traffic Council) Resolution No. 227/2007, which establishes requirements for vehicle lighting and signaling systems, generating 57 safety evaluation items and 35 ergonomic items. These evaluating items were applied to six tractor models commonly sold to smallholders with a rated engine power of 37–57kW. The results indicate levels of safety unconformities as high as 39.7% for the worst case and 44.7% ergonomic-related problems for the same tractor model. These data point to the need for improvements, especially in lower power tractors.

摘要 本文旨在基于农业机械领域的标准化研究与相关法规，筛选出用于评估小农户与家庭农场主所使用拖拉机的人机工效与安全性能的评价条目。巴西针对农业机械领域制定了完善的技术标准与法规体系，旨在保障产品标准化，并提升使用者的健康与安全水平。因此，本研究的初始步骤为梳理该类产品的技术规范与法规，以开发用于评估其人机工效与安全性能的工具。本研究共调研了28项巴西技术标准（NBR，Brazilian Technical Standards）、4项法规规范（NRs，Regulatory Norms），以及巴西交通委员会（CONTRAN，Brazilian Traffic Council）第227/2007号决议——该决议对车辆照明与信号系统提出了要求，最终共梳理出57项安全评价条目与35项人机工效评价条目。将上述评价条目应用于6款面向小农户销售的主流拖拉机机型，这些机型的额定发动机功率为37~57kW。研究结果显示，最差工况下的安全不符合项占比高达39.7%，同一款拖拉机机型的人机工效相关问题占比达44.7%。上述数据表明，亟需对拖拉机进行改进优化，尤其是低功率机型。