An Analysis of Serious Injuries to Dozer Operators at U.S. Mining Sites

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jaspal, Jasinder S. ; Mayton, Alan G. ; Turin FE ; Wiehagen, William J.
• Description:
  This paper is concerned with serious injuries occurring to bulldozer operators working at domestic coal, metal and nonmetal mines. Injury data collected by the Mine Safety and Health Administration is summarized for dozer operators that incurred serious injuries while operating the equipment over a ten-year period (1988-1997). An injury classification system was developed to code a set of fatal and nonfatal injuries. We categorize the data by activity (task being performed), result (what apparently happened to the dozer) and operator impact (how was the operator injured). Where information is available, contributing factors are identified. The results of the study indicate that the number of serious injuries to dozer operators has declined by 30% over the time period. The reduction in serious injuries resulted in a matching reduction in days lost. This was found for all classes of dozer operator injuries: incidents due to jolts and jars, fall over / roll over, sprains and strains, struck against, and struck by. Further reductions in injury risk will require: more widespread use of seat belts, field and laboratory research interventions to better assess the effect of alternative engineering (e.g., seat and seat suspension) designs to dampen or isolate the effects of shock and vibration, and continued attention on hazard awareness, recognition and response. Although the number of incidents have decreased, dozer operators being jolted and jarred accounts for the largest percentage (70% of the incidents) and severity (75% of the workdays lost) of serious injuries while operating the equipment. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Coal Coal Mining Epidemiology Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Accident Rates Accident Statistics Coal Mining Injuries Injury Prevention Metal Mining Mining Equipment Mining Industry Nonmetal Mining Statistical Analysis Surface Mining Surveillance Programs Traumatic Injuries

  More +
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  23
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021095
• Citation:
  NOIRS 2000 Abstracts of the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium 2000, October 17-19, 2000, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, PA: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2000 Oct; :23
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NOIRS 2000 Abstracts of the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium 2000, October 17-19, 2000, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:18902edcbe6df0bb7e043a1d8db2a4e0955942b60082f347c7726da18873494cc848ede998e79c79ebb17a3b47e52431ea75d9ce9b55a79407942e967c40bdee
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220442/cdc_220442_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 468.67 KB ]