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Ergonomics of Date Palm Irrigation Work: Algerian Foggara as an Example

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Advances in Physical, Social & Occupational Ergonomics (AHFE 2020)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1215))

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Abstract

The Foggara as a traditional irrigation method is still used in Algeria, especially in the western deserts (Touat, Gourara, and Tidikelt regions). Human work at the Foggara system can be a digging work, maintenance work, or distributive work. In this research, the maintenance work is studied with the aim of shedding some light on tasks the worker performs while maintaining the Foggara, how much effort the worker makes to maintain it and the body areas that are exposed to the greatest possible fatigue. To complete this research, data were collected from 37 Foggara maintenance workers using Interview, Borg scale, and the Nordic scale. It has been found that the major Foggara maintenance task was: clean and repair the Foggara, the effort required to maintain the Foggara is high and the workers are exposed to high levels of physical discomfort while doing the maintenance work.

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Acknowledgments

The researchers would like to thank the maintenance workers for the Foggara in Adrar. They also thank the students who helped conduct the research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bahrain, Sekhir, Bahrain

    Mohamed Mokdad

  2. University of Oran, Oran, Algeria

    Bouhafs Mebarki

  3. Mohammed Shaikhedine Establishment, Manama, Bahrain

    Ibrahim Mokdad

  4. University of Setif, Setif, Algeria

    Lahcen Bouabdallah

Authors
  1. Mohamed Mokdad
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  2. Bouhafs Mebarki
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  3. Ibrahim Mokdad
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  4. Lahcen Bouabdallah
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Mokdad .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Industrial Engineering and Management System, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Waldemar Karwowski

  2. Department IELM, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Ravindra S. Goonetilleke

  3. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (Republic of)

    Shuping Xiong

  4. Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

    Richard H. M. Goossens

  5. Okayama University, Okayama, Japan

    Atsuo Murata

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Mokdad, M., Mebarki, B., Mokdad, I., Bouabdallah, L. (2020). Ergonomics of Date Palm Irrigation Work: Algerian Foggara as an Example. In: Karwowski, W., Goonetilleke, R., Xiong, S., Goossens, R., Murata, A. (eds) Advances in Physical, Social & Occupational Ergonomics. AHFE 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1215. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51549-2_37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51549-2_37

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51548-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51549-2

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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