Development of ergonomics audits for bagging, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in mining

Abstract

The development and testing of ergonomics and safety audits for small and bulk bag filling, haul truck and maintenance and repair operations in coal preparation and mineral processing plants found at surface mine sites is described. The content for the audits was derived from diverse sources of information on ergonomics and safety deficiencies including: analysis of injury, illness and fatality data and reports; task analysis; empirical laboratory studies of particular tasks; field studies and observations at mine sites; and maintenance records. These diverse sources of information were utilised to establish construct validity of the modular audits that were developed for use by mine safety personnel. User and interrater reliability testing was carried out prior to finalising the audits. The audits can be implemented using downloadable paper versions or with a free mobile NIOSH-developed Android application called ErgoMine. Practitioner Summary The methodology used to develop ergonomics audits for three types of mining operations is described. Various sources of audit content are compared and contrasted to serve as a guide for developing ergonomics audits for other occupational contexts.

Emerging Ergonomics Issues and Opportunities in Mining

“…There has been fairly extensive research on implementing ergonomics in mining (see Sanders and Peay (1988) and Simpson et al (2009) for more comprehensive reviews [ 1 , 2 ]), although not as much research and practice as in sectors such as manufacturing and the military. There is also contemporary research on diverse topics such as developing ergonomics assessment tools for the industry [ 3 ], implementing participatory ergonomics programs in mining [ 4 ], and ergonomics approaches to designing mining equipment [ 5 ]. Ideally, ergonomics should be integrated at the design stage, but unfortunately this is rarely achieved (mining is not unique in this regard).…”