A taxonomy of surface mining slip, trip, and fall hazards as a guide to research and practice.

Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) are the second leading cause of non-fatal injuries and can lead to fatal incidents in the mining industry. Hazard identification is an essential first step in remediating STF hazards and creating a safer work environment. Previous research has identified industry-specific risk factors for STFs, evaluated exposures to those risk factors, and developed taxonomies of the hazards for the construction and farming sectors.

Ergonomics assessment methods used by ergonomics professionals.

A web-based survey was conducted of ergonomics practitioners holding certifications in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

Risk assessment of recordable occupational hearing loss in the mining industry.

To evaluate the hearing loss risk in different sectors and subunits in the mining industry and to identify associated occupations, in an attempt to locate gaps between hearing conservation efforts and hearing loss risks. Descriptive statistics and frequency tables were generated by commodity types, subunit operations, and/or occupations. Temporal trends of the incidences of hearing loss were reported by commodity types.

Precision based guidelines for sub-maximal normalisation task selection for trunk extensor EMG.

Aim: The object of this study was to quantify the contribution of sub-maximal normalisation to the overall variance of exposure parameters describing erector spinae (ES) activity, and to provide guidelines for task selection which minimize methodological variance.

Methods: ES EMG was measured from three locations (T9, L1 and L5 levels) on fifteen men performing a manual materials handling task in the laboratory on three separate days. Four repeats of each of eleven sub-maximal normalisation tasks (eight static, three dynamic) were collected, work data were normalised to each task and repeat, and exposure parameters calculated.

Examination of space/volume requirements for US underground coal mine refuge alternatives.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration requires that 1.4 m (15 ft) of floor space is to be provided for each person inside a refuge alternative (RA). However, the amount of floor space needed for a person to reside inside an RA and perform basic tasks is unknown.

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

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.

Analysis of physical demands during bulk bag closing and sealing.

Several tools are sold and recommended for closing and sealing flexible intermediate bulk containers (bulk bags) which are used to transport product that has been mined and processed. However, there is limited information on the risks, physical demands, or the benefits of using one tool over another. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical demands involved with two closing methods and several sealing tools in order to provide recommendations for selecting tools to reduce exposure to risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Slip Potential for Commonly Used Inclined Grated Metal Walkways.

Background: No specific guidelines or regulations are provided by the Mine Safety and Health Administration for the use of inclined grated metal walkways in mining plants. Mining and other companies may be using walkway materials that do not provide sufficient friction, contributing to slip and fall injuries.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if there are significant differences in the required friction for different grated metal walkways during walking in diverse conditions.

Primary care clinicians' perceptions about antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis: a qualitative study.

Background: Clinicians prescribe antibiotics to over 65% of adults with acute bronchitis despite guidelines stating that antibiotics are not indicated.

Methods: To identify and understand primary care clinician perceptions about antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 primary care clinicians in Boston, Massachusetts and used thematic content analysis.

Results: All the participants agreed with guidelines that antibiotics are not indicated for acute bronchitis and felt that clinicians other than themselves were responsible for overprescribing.

Analysis of Fatalities During Maintenance and Repair Operations in the U.S. Mining Sector.

Background: Maintenance and repair work in mining is particularly hazardous and yet has received little focus in ergonomics research.

Purpose: In this article, an attempt has been made to determine if patterns can be identified to categorize maintenance and repair fatalities in mining, to compare occurrence of fatalities between coal and metal/nonmetal sectors, and to use this information to identify safety deficiencies and associated proposed remedial measures.

Methods: A classification scheme was developed to identify patterns in fatalities, including proximal causes, tasks, and contributing factors.

Maintenance and repair injuries in US mining.

Purpose –: The purpose of this paper is to identify key tasks, tools, and equipment associated with maintenance and repair injuries at US mines and to provide some mitigation strategies to reduce these types of injuries.

Design/methodology/approach –: This study analyzed incidents resulting in injuries reported to the US Mine Safety and Health Administration from 2002 to 2011. Incident reports were limited to those occurring at mining plants, shops, yards, and aboveground locations.

Visit complexity, diagnostic uncertainty, and antibiotic prescribing for acute cough in primary care: a retrospective study.

Background: Guidelines and performance measures recommend avoiding antibiotics for acute cough/acute bronchitis and presume visits are straightforward with simple diagnostic decision-making. We evaluated clinician-assigned diagnoses, diagnostic uncertainty, and antibiotic prescribing for acute cough visits in primary care.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of acute cough visits - cough lasting ≤21 days in adults 18-64 years old without chronic lung disease - in a primary care practice from March 2011 through June 2012.

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).

Influence of three principles of pacing on the temporal organisation of work during cyclic assembly and disassembly tasks.

A study was conducted to investigate the influence of different approaches to arranging the pace and temporal organisation of repetitive assembly and disassembly tasks on both average performance and its variability and to compare assembly and disassembly times derived with psychophysical methods to a more traditional methods-time measurement (MTM) approach. The conditions studied were a traditional assembly line arrangement, where assemblies were started at a pace of 110 MTM (repeated on two occasions), a batch condition, where subjects were required to complete 36 assemblies within the total amount of time allowed at 110, MTM and a psychophysical condition, where subjects were allowed to choose their pace (repeated on two occasions). Overall, the results suggest that the mean time spent working in each cycle (the 'on-time') remained fairly constant across conditions, while the idle 'off-time' in between on-times was shorter and of less varied duration in the more autonomous batch and psychophysical conditions.

Gender differences in psychophysically determined maximum acceptable weights and forces for industrial workers observed after twenty years.

Purpose: In the year 1991, manual materials handling guidelines were published by Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. In these guidelines, maximum acceptable weights (MAWs) and forces (MAFs) for lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, and carrying were derived from studies conducted in a 20 year span before the above publication date. The question is whether the present generation of workers has retained the same gender differences and absolute values in psychophysically determined MAWs and MAFs as those reflected in the guideline.

Gender comparison of psychophysical forces, cardiopulmonary, and muscle metabolic responses during a simulated cart pushing task.

The purpose was to compare psychophysiological responses between healthy male and female workers during dynamic pushing. Using a psychophysical approach, 27 participants chose an acceptable force that they could push over a 7.6m distance at a frequency of 1 push per min on a treadmill.

Accuracy of the Borg CR10 scale for estimating grip forces associated with hand tool tasks.

The gripping of tools is required by many industrial operations, and an important aspect of exposure assessment is determining the grip force output of operators. Ratings of perceived exertion can provide an indirect measure of grip force; however, reports in the literature of the use of Borg CR10 scale ratings as a surrogate measure of grip force have been mixed. During a laboratory study with 16 participants, power grip forces were measured directly during three hand tool task simulations: (1) a screwdriver task, (2) a ratchet task, and (3) a lift and carry task, each performed at four force/load levels.

Psychophysiological responses in women during cart pushing on different frictional walkways.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate psychophysically determined acceptable forces, cardiopulmonary, and calf muscle metabolic responses in 15 workers while they pushed an instrumented cart on two walkways.

Background: In addition to the potential for increased musculoskeletal disorders in workers, pushing on various terrains is associated with occurrence of slips and falls at the workplace.

Method: Using a psychophysical approach, participants chose the maximum acceptable cart weight they could push without strain on walkways with coefficient of friction equaling 0.

Fall from equipment injuries in U.S. mining: identification of specific research areas for future investigation.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate the circumstances leading to fall from equipment injuries in the mining industry.

Method: The 2006 and 2007 Mine Safety and Health Administration annual injury databases were utilized for this study whereby the injury narrative, nature of injury, body part injured, mine type, age at injury, and days lost were evaluated for each injury.

Results: The majority of injuries occurred at surface mining facilities (approximately 60%) with fractures and sprains/strains being the most common injuries occurring to the major joints of the body.

Psychophysically determined forces of dynamic pushing for female industrial workers: Comparison of two apparatuses.

Using psychophysics, the maximum acceptable forces for pushing have been previously developed using a magnetic particle brake (MPB) treadmill at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. The objective of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of maximum acceptable initial and sustained forces while performing a pushing task at a frequency of 1min(-1) both on a MPB treadmill and on a high-inertia pushcart. This is important because our pushing guidelines are used extensively as a ergonomic redesign strategy and we would like the information to be as applicable as possible to cart pushing.

An analysis of injury claims from low-seam coal mines.

Introduction: The restricted workspace present in low-seam coal mines forces workers to adopt awkward working postures (kneeling and stooping), which place high physical demands on the knee and lower back.

Method: This article provides an analysis of injury claims for eight mining companies operating low-seam coal mines during calendar years 1996-2008. All cost data were normalized using data on the cost of medical care (MPI) as provided by the U.

Dynamic pushing on three frictional surfaces: maximum acceptable forces, cardiopulmonary and calf muscle metabolic responses in healthy men.

Pushing is an important materials handling activity in many occupations; however, pushing-related physiological investigations are still in infancy. The purpose was to evaluate maximum acceptable forces and physiological responses while pushing on: treadmill (TREAD); plywood floor (PLY); and Teflon floor (TEF). Acceptable forces, cardiopulmonary and calf muscle oxygenation and blood volume responses were collected simultaneously while 12 men (age 39 +/- 13 years; height 178 +/- 6 cm; and body mass 91.