Appropriate ingress/egress dimensions for mobile underground mining equipment

• Published in: International journal of industrial ergonomics Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 13 - 18
• Main Authors: Hamrick, Christopher A., Cornelius, Kim M., Rossi, E.William, Unger, Richard L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 1993
• Subjects: Egress; Equipment design; Ergonomics; Ingress; Mining; Psychophysics; Mining; Equipment design; Ingress; Egress; Ergonomics; Psychophysics
• ISSN: 0169-8141; 1872-8219
• DOI: 10.1016/0169-8141(93)90050-N

Sixteen male and sixteen female subjects were tested to determine appropriate ingress and egress opening dimensions for mobile underground mining equipment. Opening dimensions were determined for seating configurations used in five different seam heights: 81, 95, 123, 135, and 160 cm. A modified psychophysical methodology was used whereby each subject entered and exited a mock-up of a cab and adjusted the width of a sliding door to the minimum width that allowed for safe and comfortable ingress and egress. Each subject was given two trials for each seam height, for a total of ten trials per subject. Finally, the mean and 95th percentile opening widths were determined for each seam height. The mean opening widths, from lowest to highest seam height, are 132, 122, 112, 98, and 78 cm. The 95th percentile opening widths, from lowest to highest seam height, are 162, 149, 140, 122, and 101 cm. These values can be used by design engineers to provide adequate ingress and egress opening for mobile underground mining equipment.