The Effects of Restricted Workspace on Lumbar Spine Loading

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cornelius, Kim M. ; Gallagher S ; Hamrick, Christopher A. ; Redfern MS
• Description:
  Coal miners often handle heavy electrical power cables, weighing up to 10 kg per meter. These cables are manually lifted and attached to the mine roof to prevent damage from mobile underground equipment. Data suggest that workers who commonly perform cable-handling tasks experience a high rate of lost-time back injuries. In this study, six male underground miners performed a total of 12 cable-hanging tasks in standing, stooping, and kneeling postures, during which kinematic and ground reaction force data were collected. Reductions in vertical workspace were found to result in a linear increase in the peak moment experienced by the lumbar spine (p < 0.05). In restricted postures, peak moments were not significantly different in stooping vs. kneeling postures (p > 0.05). Average lumbopelvic flexion during the tasks was highest in stooping conditions, followed by standing and kneeling exertions (p < 0.05). Implications of this data with respect to design of cable handling tasks are presented and discussed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Coal Coal Mining Mining Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Biomechanics Back-injuries Biomechanics Cables Coal-miners Coal-mining Electrical-equipment Lost-work-days Low Back Pain Miners Mining Mining-industry Posture Restricted Workspace Underground-miners Underground-mining Underwater-workers

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  1359-9364
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  201-213
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021734
• Citation:
  Occup Ergon 2001 Apr; 2(4):201-213
• Contact Point Address:
  National Instittute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
• Email:
  sfg9@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Ergonomics
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e0aa05f53c826e10235efbbb2e10c5f74155ecf976067d79a9ae75e2167fb8d1b6566778a5da785521d1184aec3bf044f15f735de2e65489bb64b4b5c35b603c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220507/cdc_220507_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 413.41 KB ]