The objective of this work was to create and apply the partial ergonomic and safety coefficient of agricultural tractors (COPES). The COPES is a numeric value variable from 0 to 100, showing ergonomic and safety conditions of agricultural tractors. This coefficient was developed and tested through checking the presence and conservation condition of ergonomic and safety items in 175 used agricultural tractors belonging to 114 farms localized in the regions of Santa Maria, Restinga Seca and Cachoeira do Sul, Brazil. The results showed that the COPES presented a considerable variation between the agricultural tractors sampled (7.64 to 84.80). The COPES mean value was inferior to 35. This indicates the unsatisfactory ergonomic and safety conditions of the agricultural tractors used in these regions. The COPES value tends to decrease in logarithm scale according to the agricultural tractors age (r² = 0.8018). Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the COPES is a relevant tool to evaluate numerically ergonomic and safety conditions in agricultural tractors, demonstrating sensibility to the variations presented by the tractors regarding to these characteristics.
agricultural mechanization; ergonomics; safety
