Acta Scientiarum Polonorum
Silvarum Colendarum Ratio et Industria Lignaria

Abstract In order to evaluate the fatigue of forest workers, the authors used a Japanese questionnaire. The investigations included workers employed on 30 workstations in silviculture, forest protection and forest utilization. Workers filled the questionnaire three times during the workday. The frequency of the symptoms of tiredness from the group concerning reduced activity reported by workers before the beginning of work was small and increased in the course of work reaching the highest values after finishing work. Symptoms of reduced motivations were reported by workers sporadically, with the exception of operators of harvester and forwarder where they dominated. The frequency of the occurrence of fatigue symptoms (ABC) before work amounted, on average, to 1.9%, during the break – to 8.5%, whereas after the termination of work – to 13.1%. The group of symptoms of physical fatigue was characterised by the highest frequency and scale of intensity. The most frequently reported symptoms included: thirst, back pain and stiff neck and shoulders. For the distinct majority of the examined operations, a C > A > B type of fatigue characteristic for physical jobs was observed and the only exception was the job of operators of harvester and forwarder which was characterised by the B > C > A pattern of fatigue.