Dumper and Excavator Operator's Workplace Risks and Ergonomic Issues

Human error is the main reason for incidents and/or accidents when operating excavators and dumpers in the mining industry, and there is an evident increase of malignant, respiratory, otorhinolaryngological, and musculoskeletal illnesses. It appears necessary to improve the workplace conditions that can scientifically influence the health of both employees and the residents in the surrounding area. This chapter surveys possible workplace risks and ergonomic issues in dumper and excavator operations. 73 excavator and 47 dumper operators participated in the survey. Anthropometric measurements were taken from 50 operators. After descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing, data about working conditions, such as indoor air, noise, emission of gaseous and particulate material, and human-acceptable vibration levels, were monitored on five excavators and two dumpers and compared to regulatory documents. The results show that there are exceedances of the allowed values of certain parameters of working conditions, even with machines of newer production. Risks at the excavator and dumper machinery workplaces are most often associated with the presence of human vibrations, temperature, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , and SO 2 inside the cabin, and CO and NO x from outside. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to prototype an innovative, multisensorial support system for continuous monitoring of environmental quality parameter levels that will alert the operator when permitted limits are exceeded.