Abstract

The traditional way of climbing coconut tree is quite tedious, risky and requires lot of skill. Difficulty in getting the services of skilled climbers in time and their high wage are thus perceived as important constraints. Tree climbing devices developed to facilitate ascending and descending of coconut tree. The available coconut tree climbing devices viz., FIM (CT1),Commercial (CT2) and Kerala (CT3) models were ergonomically evaluated for assessing the suitability of the user. Ergo refinements were carried out in CT1 -model for enhanced comfort, safety and ease of operation of the user. The ergo refined coconut tree climbing device (CT4) enhanced the comfort and safety of male subjects with 7.8, 12.2, 10.7 and 20.5 per cent reduction in Heart rate, Energy expenditure, Overall Discomfort Rating and Body Part Discomfort Score respectively and 2.6 and 4.1 per cent increase in Overall Safety and Ease of Operation Rating respectively when compared to CT1.

Keywords: Ergonomics, Coconut tree, Climbing device.