Bureau of Mines Research into Reducing Materials-Handling Injuries

摘要

The Bureau of Mines entered into a cooperative agreement with an eastern Kentucky coal mining company to comprehensively redesign the flow of equipment and supplies throughout its underground mines. Activities such as handling daily supplies (concrete blocks, rock dust, and crossbeams) and handling or lifting the continuous miner power cable were determined to be the most hazardous. Recommendations to the company included redesigned surface storage areas to facilitate the use of forklift vehicles to load the underground supply cars. Designs were also developed for different mechanical-assist devices to help in unloading the supply cars underground and to handle equipment maintenance tasks underground. Additionally, the videotapes of the underground manual handling tasks became the basis for simulating those activities in controlled laboratory conditions. This testing will contribute to developing guidelines for proper lifting techniques for low-seam coal mines.