1st Edition

Human Factors for the Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Mining Equipment

    238 Pages 54 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Machines increasingly pervade the mining industry, reducing manual labor and raising production. While the use of new technologies such as remote control, vision enhancement technologies, continuous haulage, and automated equipment has grown, so has the potential for new health and safety risks. Written by leading experts from Australia and North America, Human Factors for the Design, Operation, and Maintenance of Mining Equipment covers the impact of new mining technology on human work performance and safety.

    Ergonomics experts Tim John Horberry, Robin Burgess-Limerick, and Lisa J. Steiner draw on their personal experience to provide up-to-date research, case studies, and examples, making the book useful, accurate, informative, and easy to read. They set the scene with a general, yet fundamental review of human factors information related to equipment. They then examine the physical environment and the importance of key concerns such as vibration, noise, heat, and dust in maintaining and operating mining equipment. The authors expand their scope by examining wider organizational and task factors related to mining equipment, including the long-standing issues of operator fatigue and stress as well as newer concerns such as distraction and information overload.

    A synthesis of available human factors knowledge and research, the book describes human factors principles applied to mining equipment from a multidisciplinary perspective and combines it into one volume. The authors combine their in-the-trenches experience and academic expertise to present a treatment that balances breadth with depth. The book supplies a much-needed overview of the human element in the journey to optimal equipment design of mining equipment.

    What is Human Factors, and Why is it Important for Mining Equipment?
    What is “Human Factors”?
    What are the Aims of Human Factors?
    Why is it Important to Consider Human Factors for Mining Equipment?
    History of Human Factors in Mining
    Human Factors and Risk Management
    Key Current Issues, and Future Challenges with Mining Equipment
    Why This Book is Necessary
    Structure of the Book

    Equipment Design
    The Equipment Design Process
    The Equipment Life Cycle
    Safety in Design
    Hierarchy of Control, and Control Effectiveness
    Equipment Usability
    Human Factors Cost–Benefit Analysis and the System Life Cycle
    Equipment Standardisation
    Potential Barriers to Using Human Factors in Design
    Operability and Maintainability Analysis Technique (OMAT)

    It is Not Just about Design: Mining Equipment Operations and Maintenance
    Elements in the Mining System
    Safety in the Operation of Mobile Equipment
    Different Types of Factors Involved in Mobile Equipment Incidents
    Haddon’s countermeasure principles
    Conclusions

    Manual Tasks
    Introduction
    Direct Manual-Task Risk Factors
    Assessing Manual-Task Injury Risks
    The Place of “Training” in Manual-Task Injury Risk Management
    Conclusion

    Workstation Design and Anthropometric Variability
    Workstation Design: Overview
    Incorporating Anthropometric Data in Workstation Design
    General Principles of Workstation Design
    Digital Tools for Workstation Design
    Conclusion

    Physical Environment and Climate
    Sound and Hearing, co-written with Robert Randolph
    Dust, co-written with James Rider
    Heat, Cold, and Climate Control, co-written with Janet Torma-Krajewski
    Vibration,  co-written with Tammy Eger

    Vision, Visibility, and Lighting
    Co-written with Tammy Eger
    Vision and Lighting
    Illumination and Vision Performance
    Standards for Mine Lighting
    Recommended Lighting Levels
    Visibility and Equipment Design

    Controls and Displays
    Controls and Displays: Overview
    Control Design Principles
    Reducing Control Errors: Guarding, Feedback, Mode Errors, Coding, and Directional Control–Response Relationships
    Display Principles
    Case Study: The EMESRT Controls and Displays Design Philosophy

    Automation and New Technologies
    Why are New Mining Technologies and Automation being Developed and Deployed?
    Levels of Automation
    The Importance of Considering Human–Machine Interaction in Automated Mining Equipment
    Automation and Human Factors Issues
    Case Study: Collision Detection and Proximity-Warning systems
    Mining Automation and People: What Can We Conclude?

    Organisational and Task Factors
    Fatigue, Shiftwork, and Mining Equipment
    Mental Workload
    Occupational Stress
    Distraction
    Conclusion

    Training
    Co-written with Jennifer G. Tichon
    Why Train?
    Human Factors in the Design of Training
    Expertise and Training
    Issues Associated with Training
    Use of Simulation in Training
    VR Simulation Training in Mining
    Conclusion

    Conclusions
    Summary
    Future General Trends in Mining Human Factors
    Future Human-Related Trends in Mining Equipment Design, Operation, and Maintenance
    References
    Index

    Biography

    Tim Horberry, Robin Burgess-Limerick, Lisa J. Steiner