Quality Tools Application in Examining Discomfort Issues at Mining Machinery Operators’ Workplaces

Abstract

The significance of evaluating human factors issues encountered at mining machinery operation greatly exceeds the amount of available research, given that accidents in mining operations continue to be a recurring concern. This study included 97 Serbian mining machinery operators, who answered the questionnaire which examines injuries and discomfort issues at mining machinery operators’ workplaces. Descriptive statistics was conducted followed by quality tools: Pareto (ABC), Ishikawa, and control charts were performed. ABC analysis found that 41.7% of operators complained to back pain, mostly due to poor working conditions. Back pain is caused by repetitive movements, poor anthropometric adjustments, lack of training, environmental factors, and vibrations, according to the Ishikawa diagram. The attribute control chart shows that no points exceed the lower and upper limits. Thus, examined processes are controlled. A future research avenue is further data collection and expansion of the sample size, as well as the application of other quality tools.

Keywords: Operator, Discomfort, Working conditions, Quality tools, Mining machinery

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1006637