Occupational disorders affecting agricultural workers in tropical developing countries: results of a literature review.

This paper presents the results of a literature review undertaken to determine the nature and extent of occupational health problems in tropical agriculture and to identify opportunities for ergonomics intervention. Occupational disorders were categorized as follows: disorders associated with the use of pesticides; disorders associated with biomechanical and postural demands; and disorders associated with harmful materials other than pesticides. It was concluded that the high rate of pesticide poisoning in tropical agriculture is partly a consequence of the inappropriate transfer of technology from industrialized to developing countries. Ergonomics intervention has the potential to reduce the incidence of occupational pesticide poisoning in developing countries. Biomechanical disorders are commonly presumed to be prevalent in tropical agriculture, but the evidence to confirm this is lacking. Again, ergonomics intervention has the potential to minimize such disorders, but the cultural significance associated with traditional tools and practices must be considered in such a development programme. Disorders associated with contact with harmful materials have been described as occupational diseases. Pesticides aside, these have received little attention, partly because it is difficult to distinguish between occupational and non-occupational incidences of such diseases. Opportunities to reduce the occurrence of these occupational diseases could be limited.