The Necessity for Improved Hand and Finger Protection in Mining.

Injuries associated with hands and fingers are highly prevalent in mining and identifying factors associated with these injuries are critical in developing prevention efforts. This study identifies nonfatal injury incidence rates, nature of injury, work activities, glove usage, and sources of hand and finger injuries in the U.S. mining industry, as reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from 2011 - 2017. Hand and finger injuries occur at a rate of 6.53 per 1000 full-time employees, which is nearly double the rate of the next highest affected body part, the back. Most of the hand and finger injuries were classified as cuts/lacerations/punctures (53%) followed by bone fractures/chips (26%). Materials handling and maintenance/repair were common activities at the time of the incident with miscellaneous metals (pipe, wire, guarding) and hand tools as the primary sources of hand and finger injury. Although the information on glove use was limited, leather gloves were most often worn when an injury occurred. When worn, gloves were found to contribute to 20% of the injuries, indicating their potential to protect the hands, but also potentially put the hands at risk. Further research is necessary to determine performance requirements for gloves used in mining operations, specifically those offering cut and puncture resistance.

Analysis of Fall-Related Imminent Danger Orders in the Metal/Nonmetal Mining Sector.

Within the metal/nonmetal mining sector, fall-related incidents account for a large proportion of fatal and non-fatal injuries. However, the events and contributing factors leading up to these incidents have not been fully investigated. To help provide a clearer picture of these factors, an analysis of imminent danger orders issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) between 2010 and 2017 at both surface and underground metal/nonmetal mine sites revealed that most orders are associated with fall risks. Of these cases, 84% involved the workers not using fall protection, fall protection not being provided, or the improper use of fall protection. Fall risks for workers most frequently occurred when standing on mobile equipment, performing maintenance and repairs on plant equipment, or working near highwalls. In most cases, a single, basic, corrective action (e.g., using fall protection) would have allowed workers to perform the task safely. Overall, these findings suggest that a systematic approach is needed to identify, eliminate, and prevent imminent danger situations. Furthermore, to protect mineworkers from falls from height, frequently performed tasks requiring fall protection should be redesigned to eliminate the reliance on personal fall protection.

Effects of Metatarsal Work Boots on Gait During Level and Inclined Walking.

Footwear plays an important role in worker safety. Work boots with safety toes are often utilized at mine sites to protect workers from hazards. Increasingly, mining operations require metatarsal guards in addition to safety toe protection in boots. While these guards provide additional protection, the impact of metatarsal guards on gait are unknown. This study aimed to measure the effects of 4 safety work boots, steel toe, and steel toe with metatarsal protection in wader- and hiker-style boots, on level and inclined walking gait characteristics, during ascent and descent. A total of 10 participants completed this study. A motion capture system measured kinematics that allowed for the calculation of key gait parameters. Results indicated that gait parameters changed due to incline, similar to previous literature. Wader-style work boots reduced ankle range of motion when ascending an incline. Hip, knee, and ankle ranges of motion were also reduced during descent for this style of boot. Wader-style boots with metatarsal guards led to the smallest ankle range of motion when descending an inclined walkway. From these results, it is likely that boot style affects gait parameters and may impact a miner's risk for slips, trips, or falls.

Emerging Ergonomics Issues and Opportunities in Mining.

Ergonomics is the scientific discipline that investigates the interactions between humans and systems to optimize both human and system performance for worker safety, health, and productivity. Ergonomics is frequently involved either in the design of emerging technologies or in strategies to alleviate unanticipated human performance problems with emerging technologies. This manuscript explores several such emerging issues and opportunities in the context of the mining sector. In mining, the equipment, tools, and procedures have changed considerably and continue to change. Body-worn technology provides a number of opportunities to advance the safety and health of miners, while teleoperation and autonomous mining equipment stand to benefit significantly from ergonomics applications in other sectors. This manuscript focuses on those issues and opportunities that can impact the safety and health of miners in the near term.

Method for measuring wear on boot outsoles using a 3D laser scanner.

In the mining industry, slips and falls are the second leading cause of non-fatal injuries. Footwear is the primary defence against a slip; consequently, the condition of the footwear outsole is critical to maintaining slip resistance. Currently, there is no published method that can be used to determine when the outsole no longer affords adequate slip protection. Moreover, quantifying the condition of the outsole through the measurement of outsole features can be tedious. This article introduces a new method for the quantification of boot outsole wear. Using a handheld 3D scanner, boot scans can be taken quickly and the developed models used to measure outsole features. This method also accounts for the bending of the boot due to normal wear, which may otherwise introduce erroneous measures. When compared to measurements with a traditional handheld calliper, this new method offers more flexibility in terms of data collection, accounts for other types of boot transformations, and is more efficient to use over multiple measurement periods with no statistically significant differences in measurement.