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.