An ergonomic assessment of the Anderson-Mavor Bi-Di ranging arm shearer with track reactive haulage.

The Anderson-flavor Bi-Directional Shearer with Track Reactive Haulage was examined at Bagworth 36’s face. Ergonomic recommendations to improve the operation of the machine are discussed in Section 7. The major recommendations are summarised as follows:(a)The greatest improvement to the operators’ tasks could beobtained by resiting the ranging arm height controls closeto, but not outwards of the drum axes.(b)A significant improvement could also be made by:(i.) resiting the ‘haulage speed/direction’ control and the ‘water jet controls’ closer to the drum axes.(ii) including in the controls at the Tail Gate end of the shearer, a recessed push button to start the motor.(iii) mushroom type buttons included with the controls at each end of the shearer to stop the motor.Other recommendations are listed in Section 8 of the report and cover control standardisation, control dimensions and clearances, labelling and the emergency stop control.