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.

Table of Contents

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

About the Author

MISHC, SMI, University of Queensland, Australia University of Queensland, Australa