Visual Performance for Trip Hazard Detection When Using Incandescent and Led Miner Cap Lamps

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gallagher S ; Reyes M ; Sammarco, John J.
• Description:
  Introduction: Accident data for 2003-2007 indicate that slip, trip, and falls (STFs) are the second leading accident class (17.8%, n=2,441) of lost-time injuries in underground mining. Proper lighting plays a critical role in enabling miners to detect STF hazards in this environment. Often, the only lighting available to the miner is from a cap lamp worn on the miner's helmet. The focus of this research was to determine if the spectral content of light from light-emitting diode (LED) cap lamps enabled visual performance improvements for the detection of tripping hazards as compared to incandescent cap lamps that are traditionally used in underground mining. A secondary objective was to determine the effects of aging on visual performance. Method: The visual performance of 30 subjects was quantified by measuring each subject's speed and accuracy in detecting objects positioned on the floor both in the near field, at 1.83 meters, and far field, at 3.66 meters. Near field objects were positioned at 0 degrees and +/-20 degrees off axis, while far field objects were positioned at 0 degrees and +/-10 degrees off axis. Three age groups were designated: group A consisted of subjects 18 to 25 years old, group B consisted of subjects 40 to 50 years old, and group C consisted of subjects 51 years and older. Results: Results of the visual performance comparison for a commercially available LED, a prototype LED, and an incandescent cap lamp indicate that the location of objects on the floor, the type of cap lamp used, and subject age all had significant influences on the time required to identify potential trip hazards. The LED-based cap lamps enabled detection times that were an average of 0.96 seconds faster compared to the incandescent cap lamp. Use of the LED cap lamps resulted in average detection times that were about 13.6% faster than those recorded for the incandescent cap lamp. The visual performance differences between the commercially available LED and prototype LED cap lamp were not statistically significant. Impact on Industry: It can be inferred from this data that the spectral content from LED-based cap lamps could enable significant visual performance improvements for miners in the detection of trip hazards. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Age Factors Aging Eye Lighting Mining Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Sense Organs Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Accident-rates Accident-statistics Age-factors Age-groups Author Keywords: Trip Hazards Illumination Injuries Light-emission Light-source Lighting-systems Mine-workers Mine Safety Occupational-hazards Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Underground-mining Visual-perception Visual Performance Work-analysis Work-areas Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices Workplace-studies

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0022-4375
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OMSHR - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  85-91
• Volume:
  41
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036872
• Citation:
  J Safety Res 2010 Apr; 41(2):85-91
• Contact Point Address:
  John J. Sammarco, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Email:
  Jsammarco@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Safety Research
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4beb885ba2e9692a2cd53fc18bf7bf06659452ec6bc711f71c386c9a386e912d4a2596a00caca904d2b3c111fc507137e303686a608601cb1c578793835003f2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227219/cdc_227219_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 487.20 KB ]