Risk, training and materials handling. Final report on CEC Contract 7249-13-040

Despite extensive efforts to design out hazards in coalmining, men still put themselves at risk of musculoskeletal injury when involved in materials handling. It has been reported that low back pain was responsible for up to 18% of sickness absence in some British coalfields. However, other soft tissue injuries, predominantly to the lower, limbs and upper limbs and shoulders, have also been cited as an important cause of loss of work and residual disability. Previous investigations by our Institute have been carried out on the manual handling of mining supplies. Although primarily devoted to truncal strain, the studies served to emphasise the extent of unsafe handling activities which could jeopardise the health and safety of those involved. Poor handling procedures were observed even with personnel experienced in handling and in providing handling training.One element of human behaviour, which has frequently been linked to accident causation, is risk perception and risk-taking behaviour. During the course of an examination of safety in coal bunkers carried out by our Institute, a method forinvestigating individual risk perception was devised, the Risk Perception Audit orRPA. It was decided to explore further the potential of the RPA approach,developed in previous projects, by using it to examine deficiencies in knowledge or training related to materials handling. The intention was to use the results from this examination to direct the production of training material aimed at rectifying any such deficiencies identified. Two specific aspects of materials handling,representing very different elements of haulage operations, were examined. These were manual handling and the transport of heavy or awkward loads.A manual handling RPA was developed and administered to men involved in manual handling on a regular basis, at their workplace underground. It was administered to miners at four collieries chosen to represent a variety of haulage and transport systems. In a series of underground visits, all men encountered, whose jobs included a reasonable amount of manual handling, were invited to participate. The RPA was also completed by Safety and Training personnel at each of the four collieries and at Group Headquarters to provide expert ratings. One hundred and thirty eight miners and 28 experts satisfactorily completed the RPA. Five of the 13 selected activities were each considered to be riskier by the experts than by the men involved in manual handling. For some years now, British Coalhave made increasing use of video-taped material for training and informationpurposes. One approach adopted has been the production of short videos with a specific ‘message’. This approach was adopted as a way of addressing problems identified from the RPA results. Of the five activities identified two wereselected for video production. These were ‘not using correct tools to break open unit loads’ and ‘overreaching when unloading deep vehicles’.The format and development procedure used to produce the manual handling RPA was also used for the heavy or awkward loads RPA.Unlike the manual – handling RPA, which was administered at the workplace, it was planned to apply the heavy or awkward loads RPA to mineworkers attending heavy or awkward loads handling courses. At the same time, the mineworkerscompleted a selection of further tests in order that we could examine psychological factors which might relate to risk perception and risk-taking behaviour.Three additional tests were selected: a Situation Specific Locus of Control, Rotters’ Locus of Control Scale and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, or CFQ. The four tests were each administered at the start of a week-long course. Three of them (not the CFQ) were then re-administered at the end of the week. This process was continued until just over 100 men had attended courses. A third administration (follow-up), a minimum of 10 weeks after the miners had finished their course, was completed at the men’s collieries for all the tests.The results showed that, after the course, five activities were perceived as bearing a significantly greater risk than was attributed to them before the course. These were: Using loadbinder chains for lifting.Not using proper clamps for attaching lifting chains.Using pipe chains for lifting and pulling.Spreading lifting chains too wide.Using eye-bolts for lifting with thread exposed.It is noticeable that all of these aspects relate to mechanistic elements of handling heavy or awkward loads – and that all relate specifically to lifting the load.Factors which are more related to general safety awareness, such as travelling between vehicles and the roadside, did not appear to have been put across by the trainers as effectively. This lack of attention to general safety aspects oftransporting heavy or awkward loads can be seen as a serious deficiency in the course, identified by the use of the RPA. Nevertheless, the course was beneficial in other ways. The Locus of Control scale measures the individual’s sense ofresponsibility for his actions. As a result of the course there was a statistically significant shift towards personal responsibility. This was accompanied by a heightened overall awareness of risk as shown by a general tendency to rate risky activities more highly.Support for a longer term influence of the course was obtained at the follow-up stage from the Locus of Control and Cognitive Failures Questionnaires – the CFQ. The Locus of Control scores remained essentially at the same level reached at the end of the course, suggesting that the general safety awareness had persisted. Scores on the CFQ, which is a measure of everyday errors, fell from the pre-course values, indicating that the men were making – or at least admitting to making – fewer errors than previously. It is worth noting that the three measures were significantly correlated: that is, those who were becoming more aware of the risks of handling activities were feeling more responsible for their own destiny and were reportedly making fewer errors. “”