Delegates at the Longwall 2007 conference held last week heard from ergonomics specialist Barbara McPhee and fellow panel members on the changes needed in the industry to encourage the refinement of machinery to meet ergonomic requirements.
Alongside McPhee the panel comprised Paul Gill from Xstrata Coal; Bill Furniss, DBT; Noel Harden, Beldane; Ben Smith, Xstrata Coal; and Brant Wright, Joy Mining Machinery.
McPhee said the longwall sector has made some progress since the importance of ergonomics was recognised in a legislative and occupational health and safety sense but "champions" were still needed to insist on cooperation between OEMs and mining companies.
Ergonomics, or the study of how a person interacts with objects in the workplace, has been a catchphrase of the industry in recent years, often in relation to making the mining workplace more comfortable as well as safer and healthier for staff.
McPhee said one of the major obstacles resisting ergonomic developments is communication between stakeholders, including employees, and management - and between mining company management and OEMs.
A second major obstacle, she added, was the cost involved in creating specialised machinery to meet ergonomic requirements and that was something the OEMs had to work through with their clients.
Harden agreed, adding that employees' reluctance to report their equipment concerns to management could also be hampering the effort, as without the information needed bringing about change was increasingly more difficult.
He said the new generation of equipment being introduced into the market was a considerable improvement on older models used and that as more regulations and risk management guidelines are adopted across the industry there will be more of a priority put on ergonomics, which can potentially reduce injuries and down time considerably.
The message from OEM representatives Wright and Furniss was simple: if mines demand the product and are prepared to pay for it then it will be supplied.
Wright explained that the time it takes to develop a new product is considerable and the process challenging and that clients must give sufficient timelines to meet demands.
He said the approval process for the underground environment was much more complex than for other industries and that making mining machinery more comfortable for operators was not a simple exercise.
"It's not like a car where you'd expect certain features for a certain price and it's supplied ... these things take time to develop, to get approvals and to incorporate into models, it's no simple process," Wright said.
Gill agreed saying mining management recognised the conditions miners worked in were often hard on their bodies and making it more comfortable was in the interest of all involved in the industry.
Smith, who was heavily involved in the overhaul of Ulan's new ABM25s continuous miner to meet ergonomic requirements, said it was a case of "the sooner, the better" for mines to be involved in the design process of the equipment.
He said waiting until the equipment is three-quarters completed is too late to demand changes are made and that the risk assessment process for equipment should begin the day a company considers purchasing the plant.
Furniss said that while the idea of the industry working collaboratively on ergonomic developments is appealing, the market is competitive and OEMs are unlikely to communicate with each other.
Rather, he said research projects and industry committees are making some progress to bring about changes but drive from producers is needed.
McPhee said the design elements of ergonomics in the longwall sector can be categorised as concerning:
Access to the machine both for operators and maintenance staff;
Visibility;
Adjustment for tall and short operators, particularly working in smaller seams;
Transport vehicles - accommodating for rough terrain in the transfer of workers to reduce impact;
Location of controls; and
Machine feedback and access to this information.
