Abstract (300 words maximum)
Michael and Phillip
The Dangers of Long Shifts in Mines
There are many reasons for workplace injuries, ranging from not paying attention, being inadequately trained, or working at a time outside of the normal working hours. Sleep deprivation is usually not thought of as a reason for workplace injury, but it can significantly increase the risks of injury or accident in the workforce. This becomes especially prevalent in jobs with long shifts and low light conditions such as work done in mines. Mines are already notorious for having higher rates of workplace injuries and since mines run 24 hours a day, there are workers constantly changing shifts and working long hours. With the majority of miners working 12 hour shifts and long work cycles of up to 7-14 days straight with the fly-in fly-out policy. This study aims to explore a possible relationship between the length of a miners shift and the degree of the injury to see if miners are working too long shifts and making mistakes. This data was collected by U.S. Department of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from all fifty states in the US starting 1971 and last updated October 29th, 2022. The data originally consisted of over 50 different variables relating to mining accident reports and will be sorted to find the difference between start and end time of shift to find shift length. The two main variables in this study are the variables called shift length time which is when the employee began the shift until the accident occurred and the degree of injury on a basis of fatal, non-fatal, or disability. The alternate variables in the study are calendar quarter, calendar year, and whether the employee was transferred or terminated. Using the variables listed, the study hopes to find if miners are getting injured because of long work hours.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
Public Health Education
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Kevin Gittner
The Dangers of Long Shifts in Mines
Michael and Phillip
The Dangers of Long Shifts in Mines
There are many reasons for workplace injuries, ranging from not paying attention, being inadequately trained, or working at a time outside of the normal working hours. Sleep deprivation is usually not thought of as a reason for workplace injury, but it can significantly increase the risks of injury or accident in the workforce. This becomes especially prevalent in jobs with long shifts and low light conditions such as work done in mines. Mines are already notorious for having higher rates of workplace injuries and since mines run 24 hours a day, there are workers constantly changing shifts and working long hours. With the majority of miners working 12 hour shifts and long work cycles of up to 7-14 days straight with the fly-in fly-out policy. This study aims to explore a possible relationship between the length of a miners shift and the degree of the injury to see if miners are working too long shifts and making mistakes. This data was collected by U.S. Department of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from all fifty states in the US starting 1971 and last updated October 29th, 2022. The data originally consisted of over 50 different variables relating to mining accident reports and will be sorted to find the difference between start and end time of shift to find shift length. The two main variables in this study are the variables called shift length time which is when the employee began the shift until the accident occurred and the degree of injury on a basis of fatal, non-fatal, or disability. The alternate variables in the study are calendar quarter, calendar year, and whether the employee was transferred or terminated. Using the variables listed, the study hopes to find if miners are getting injured because of long work hours.