Preliminary Recommendations for Handling and Lifting Materials in Underground Low-Coal Mines

Abstract

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has developed preliminary recommendations for handling materials in low-seam coal mines in an effort to reduce the incidence and cost of low-back pain in underground coal mines. Three main approaches to reducing back injuries are discussed: a) research and development of task specific materials-handling hardware that would reduce the number of manual lifts in underground coal mines, b) examining the supply-handling systems currently in use at low-seam coal mines through task analysis, and c) examining the lifting capacity of low-seam coal miners in the restricted postures that must be used in underground mines. Bureau of Mines research findings and recommendations are presented and discussed.