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Research article2016Peer reviewed

Human, technology, organization and environment - a human factors perspective on performance in forest harvesting

Haggstrom, Carola; Lindroos, Ola

Abstract

In recent years, concern has been raised that the trend of continuous productivity improvements of forest harvesting has stagnated and even declined in the Nordics. This selective literature review therefore examines human factors research with regard to the performance of the harvesting system, and outlines how human factors research can stimulate continued performance improvements. The focus is on implications for mechanized cut-to-length (CTL) operations and, especially, research of importance to the operation of the single grip harvester and the harvester-forwarder system. Most literature for this review was found in the Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar databases or as a consequence of the snowballing approach also applied. A conceptual framework was used to facilitate the analysis of the interrelated elements - Human, Technology, Organization and Environment (HTO-E). The right abilities, skills, techniques and training alone are not sufficient for ensuring high performance of the logging system. To address this discrepancy, education, training, (semi-) automation, shift scheduling, harvester-forwarder cooperation, inter-and intra-organizational knowledge exchange were all recognized as important areas for improvement and development. Great difficulties exist in predicting outcomes when introducing change, for example automation, into a system. However, the consequences of not trying may be detrimental to productivity as well as safety in mechanized forestry. Thus, it is important to research into methods, interfaces, forms of interaction, risk analyses and automation technology. HTO-E and a systems perspective provide a good basis for understanding the work today and making educated predictions for the future.

Keywords

HTO; MTO; mechanized logging; ergonomics; forestry; literature review

Published in

International Journal of Forest Engineering
2016, Volume: 27, number: 2, pages: 67-78

      SLU Authors

      • Sustainable Development Goals

      Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Forest Science
      Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14942119.2016.1170495

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/77449