The human factors of mineworker fatigue: An overview on prevalence, mitigation, and what's next.

Background: Though mining remains a vital shiftwork industry for U.S. commerce, problems of continued prevalence of mineworker fatigue and its mitigation persist.

LED Area Lighting to Reduce Glare for Roof Bolter Operators.

Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a light-emitting diode (LED) area luminaire called the Saturn and conducted a laboratory study using a Fletcher High Dual-boom Mast Feed (HDDR) roof bolting machine. The Saturn luminaire was designed to (1) enhance floor illumination to enable better detection of trip hazards in the interior spaces of a roof bolter and (2) reduce glare that has typically been an issue of concern on roof bolters. This paper reports on the results of achieving the second objective.

Effects of Light Spectrum on Luminance Measurements in Underground Coal Mines.

Lighting regulations for luminance in U. S. coal mines are verified in the field by using a luminance photometer calibrated to the Standard Illuminant A light source.

The effect of cap lamp lighting on postural control and stability.

Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are conducting mine illumination research with the objective of improving miner safety. Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) are the second leading accident class (18.1%, = 2,374) of nonfatal lost-time injuries at underground mines (MSHA, 2005-2009).

Visual performance for trip hazard detection when using incandescent and led miner cap lamps.

Introduction: Accident data for 2003-2007 indicate that slip, trip, and falls (STFs) are the second leading accident class (17.8%, n=2,441) of lost-time injuries in underground mining. Proper lighting plays a critical role in enabling miners to detect STF hazards in this environment.