Portable Coffe picker to improve ergonomic conditions of the worker in Santander

Abstract

Since coee is one of the products of greatest expansion and production in the department of Santander, and due to the working
conditions that people experience during the harvesting process, a device was designed to comply with the basic ergonomic standards in a work site.

The objective of the research was to find a viable alternative for harvesting and storage that would improve the process and ergonomic conditions at the picker’s workstation and to contribute to the increase in productivity and competitiveness of coee growers in the provinces of Guanentá and Comunera in the department of Santander.

For the prototype, data was collected through field observation, interviews with experts, collectors and coee growers and
bibliographic consultation; with the above information, conceptual sketches were prepared and the final design was obtained, leading to the construction of a device that meets the requirements for the collection and storage of coee beans, as an instrument to improve the manual coee collection process within the production chain link, which significantly improved the health of the worker as well as the collection times thereof. 

For the testing of the device, field tests were carried out, where the factors to be prevented were analyzed, such as dysergonomic risk, incidence and severity of work-related musculoskeletal disorders; the results were used as feedback for improvements and adjustments to the prototype for its optimal operation.