Détermination des critères ergonomiques de conception et de performance d'une veste de refroidissement adaptée au travail en mines profondes

Abstract

The depletion of precious ore on the surface ensures that mining companies continue mining more than 2.5 km underground. At this depth, the temperature can rise to 40 °C and the humidity in the 80 %, which can represent a danger for the health and safety of the workers. The current solution to this heat lies in the air conditioning and general ventilation of the galleries. The option of a cooling vest would be a more reliable method of lowering the direct thermal stress of the miner, but presently no solution on the market is suitable to the working environment of miners. In order to develop a suitable solution, a literature review was carried out on the requirements and constraints of deep mines as well as on the design criteria for individual protective equipment. A field study was conducted to inquire about the receptivity of miners for new personal protective equipment and to collect missing information from the literature review. The results of the research generated a matrix of ergonomic design criteria. This matrix will evaluate the proposed cooling vest for deep mines. Although the development of the matrix was limited to the ultra-deep mining environment, the design method of the matrix could be applied to other working environments. In addition, implementation of the matrix could potentially be extended to similar workplaces.

Date	26 Oct 2017
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Sylvie Nadeau (Supervisor) & Stéphane Hallé (Co-supervisor)