The Potential Impact of Light Emitting Diode Lighting on Reducing Mining Injuries During Operation and Maintenance of Lighting Systems

Details

• Personal Author:
  Sammarco, John J. ; Yenchek, Michael R.
• Description:
  Research by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicates that light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used to enhance safety by improving a miner's ability to see mining hazards and reducing glare. This paper investigates if LEDs provide another benefit by reducing miner exposure to hazards during maintenance and operation of LED lighting. LEDs could provide useful lives up to 50 times longer than incandescent lighting commonly used in mining and could enable design changes to reduce certain hazards. The mining accident records compiled by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) were examined to determine the extent and nature of accidents involving the maintenance and operation of mine luminaries. A total of 140 relevant accident records were found for the years 2002-2006. These incidents resulted in 3668 days lost from work with an additional 925 days of restricted activity. The injury narratives were studied to determine if the implementation of LED-based luminaries could reduce injury severity and frequency. The greatest near-term potential impacts appear to be related to reducing maintenance and cap lamp redesign. Longer term (5 years), low-power and lightweight auxiliary LED lighting for surface mines could also have potential impact for improving safety. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Lighting Mining Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Illumination Injuries Injury-prevention Light-emission Light-properties Light Emitting Diode Lighting-systems Mine-workers Miners Mining-equipment Mining-industry Occupational-accidents Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Risk-analysis Risk-factors Safety-equipment Standards Statistical-analysis

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0925-7535
• 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
• Volume:
  48
• Issue:
  10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037651
• Citation:
  Saf Sci 2010 Dec; 48(10):1380-1386
• Contact Point Address:
  Michael R. Yenchek, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, 626 Cochrans Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236
• Email:
  mby5@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Safety Science
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2d04aeb1c5f2e70c87652dbfa3cbc952bc1bef506bfcdaa468236ff01ceba77216200c11b0530b631d1947f904475cad4f39d3c15f02216601240e3c2c8662f6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227257/cdc_227257_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 361.60 KB ]