First Results of Ergonomics Studies of Donkey Machine Milking

Thanks to the excellent nutritional characteristics of the milk, in Italy the donkey farms are characterised by a net positive increase in the number of animals reared. Often, the mechanisation level of these farms is low and some of them are provided with trolley milking machine commonly used for sheep and goats, but not too adapted for donkeys. Time milking phase and other connected activities (bottle handwashing and manual bottling) are characterised by repetitive movements and incorrect postures, which in time would cause musculoskeletal stress for the milker. The objective of this work was to examine the work position of the milker and assess the risks deriving from repetitive upper limb movements by means of a method known as the “OCRA Checklist” and the software “midaOCRAmulticompiti”. The study was carried out in a donkey milk production farm in eastern Sicily, situated on the slopes of Mt. Etna (known as the highest active Vulcan in Europe). During usual routine work times the milking were recorded with a digital camera. The operations making up the milking process was broken down into phases and both the times taken and method of execution were recorded for each phase (CIOSTA – AIGR methodology). The slight or borderline risk value obtained in relation to the milking duration (score 7.50) becomes higher (score 15) if assessed without regard for the time actually taken to carry out the operation. The same is also true for the handwashing of the bottles, for which both the intrinsic (16.5) and final values (8.25) were higher than for the milking and the bottling. The foreseen increase in the number of herd to be milked would lead to a greater number of bottles to wash and fill and those circumstances would cause an increase in the time spent carrying out repetitive tasks and consequentially in the exposure risk.