Browsing by Author "Kar, M.B."

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An analytical hierarchy approach for studying the impact of human error, environmental factors, and equipment failure on mine accidents: a case study in India
(Springer, 2024) Kar, M.B.; Mangalpady, M.; Kunar, B.M.
This paper presents a study using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to understand and prioritize the accidents that have occurred in the Indian mining industry. The data for the study was collected from accident reports submitted to the Directorate General of Mines Safety from 2011 to 2020. The accident information was divided into six categories (i.e., accidents due to ground movement, transport machinery, machinery other than transport, explosives, electricity shock, and fall-of-person). These accidents were considered alternatives in the AHP analysis. Three risk factors (i.e., environment, equipment fault, and human error) that caused the accident were considered as criteria in the AHP analysis. The safety expert carefully examined the pattern of accidents and ranked the relative importance of the alternatives with respect to each criterion. This rank was used to build the AHP model using the R programming language and the AHP library (version 0.2.8). The results revealed that the highest number of accidents occurred due to the transport machinery (0.306), followed by accidents due to ground movement (0.232), falls of individuals (0.206), machinery other than transportation (0.122), electricity (0.082), and explosives (0.048). In order to identify the contributing risk factors for each type of mining accident, the weight and the rank of the criteria were determined. The result showed that the most accidents in the six accident categories are due to human error (0.26), followed by environmental (0.25) and equipment faults. The finding of the study provides valuable insights for the mining industry to develop effective strategies to mitigate mine accidents. © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Society for Reliability Engineering, Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM), India and The Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden 2024.
Assessment of Driving Posture Ergonomics in LPDT Operators using the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment Method
(World Researchers Associations, 2025) Prashanth, M.H.; Mangalpady, A.; Kar, M.B.
This study aimed to determine the postural risk of Low-Profile Dump Truck (LPDT) operators working in an underground metal mine. A total of 38 LPDT operators aged between 18 and 56 years, with at least 6 months of professional driving experience and no history of injuries, were selected for this study. The postural data of operators were collected by placing the Nikon D5600 camera inside the 20-ton capacity LPDT cabins which are equipped with various ergonomic features such as gas seat suspension, adjustable seat height and backrest. The driving postures of operators were recorded in the sagittal plane while performing various job cycles such as loading, loaded travel, unloading and empty travel. The ergonomic assessment of these postures was done using the standard Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) chart. The results of this analysis showed that LPDT operators were sitting in the driving posture corresponding to the low (86%) and medium (14%) risk of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). Further, it was observed that the mean RULA score during the dynamic operations (i.e. loaded and empty travel) was relatively high compared to the static operation (i.e. loading and unloading). The visual examination of the video footage showed that the operators faced visibility issues and were compelled to lean forward to see the road clearly. This resulted in a high RULA score during dynamic operation. The study highlighted the need for ergonomic intervention to prevent the LPDT operators from MSDs. © 2025, World Researchers Associations. All rights reserved.
Fuzzy Logic-Based Rapid Upper Limb Assessment: A Novel Approach to Evaluate the Postural Risk of Dumper Operators
(Springer, 2023) Kar, M.B.; Mangalpady, M.; Kunar, B.M.
It is proved that the accuracy of the standard Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method for evaluating the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) is often poor. In this paper, a fuzzy logic-based RULA system was developed to address this issue using the MATLAB software package. To evaluate the developed system, 15 dumper operators working in the surface iron ore mine were randomly selected. Video footage of their driving postures was recorded while they were performing different job cycles, such as loading, full-load travel, unloading, and empty travel. The video footage was examined to identify the most frequent driving postures. From this posture, the range of motion of both the axial and appendicular body parts was measured. The measured data were used as input parameter for the fuzzy model to calculate the fuzzy RULA score. The result revealed that 20% of the driving postures adopted by the dumper operators correspond to the medium risk of WRMSDs. Furthermore, the interquartile range of the fuzzy RULA score during dynamic operations was found to be small. This indicates that the fuzzy RULA score remained consistent throughout the dynamic operations. In contrast, the interquartile range exhibited large magnitude in the static operations, thus indicating a greater level of variation in fuzzy RULA score. The correlation test and Bland–Altman analysis were performed to compare the standard and fuzzy RULA scores. This analysis proved that the fuzzy logic-based method is a reliable alternative to the standard method for assessing RULA scores among dumper operators. © 2023, The Institution of Engineers (India).
Postural analysis of dumper operators and construction workers – a case study
(Books and Journals Private Ltd., 2021) Kunar, B.M.; Mangalpady, M.; Kar, M.B.
This case study aims at assessing and understanding the level of ergonomics in manual material handling tasks (loading, granite cutting, concrete mixing, brickwork, and plastering) of civil construction workers and dump truck drivers working in Indian opencast mines. The study involves the determination of the level of musculoskeletal disorder and predicting the most affected body parts due to incorrect working posture. The comprehensive methodology involved in this study includes rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) and rapid entire body assessment (REBA) techniques to find the risk involved in the working posture of the construction workers and dump truck drivers. The study showed that posture adopted in civil construction work and dump truck operators (loading and unloading task) are ergonomically incorrect and may cause musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) related problems in the future. This study also showed that the trunk and wrist are the most affected parts of the body in construction workers and the neck and wrist in case of the dumper operator while performing different tasks. © 2021, Books and Journals Private Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Risk factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dumper operators: A machine learning approach
(Elsevier B.V., 2023) Kar, M.B.; Mangalpady, M.; Kunar, B.M.
Aims: This study aimed to determine the risk factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) among dumper operators working in Indian iron ore mines. Methods: A total of 246 dumper truck operators meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were chosen for data collection. A self-report custom and the standard Nordic questionnaire were used for collecting data about risk factors and WRMSDs. The data were pre-processed and analyzed using machine learning (ML) algorithms (such as logistic regression ( LR), support vector machines (SVM), decision trees (DT), gradient boosting machine (GBM) and random forest (RF)). Results: RF model was found to outperform the other algorithms with high accuracy (0.71), precision (0.75), recall (0.78), F1 score (0.76), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.82). The mean rank of the risk factors showed that age is the most critical parameter, followed by awkward posture, experience in mines, job demand, alcohol consumption, smoking cigarettes, work design, and marriage status. Conclusion: Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the risk factors associated with WRMSDs among dumper operators and suggests that measures should be taken to address these risk factors to prevent WRMSDs in the dumper operator population. © 2023 The Author(s)
Structural equation modelling of work related musculoskeletal disorders among dumper operators
(Nature Research, 2023) Kar, M.B.; Mangalpady, M.; Kunar, B.M.
The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of personal factors, habitual factors, and work-related factors on work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) among dumper operators. In total, 248 dumper operators working in an iron ore mine were considered for this study. A questionnaire was developed and administered to collect dumper operators' personal, habitual, and work-related data. The reliability of the questionnaire was cross-checked by Cronbach alpha and the test–retest method. The values of Cronbach alpha for all latent variables were above 0.7, and the correlation coefficient of the questionnaire items at Time 1 and Time 2 was above 0.82. After verifying the validity (i.e., convergent and divergent) of the questionnaire data, the relationship between the factors under consideration was examined by structural equation modeling (SEM). The SEM demonstrated a moderate fit, with χ2df value of 1.386, comparative fit index (CFI) of 0.86, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) of 0.72, adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) of 0.69, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) of 0.83, normed fit index (NFI) of 0.71 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) of 0.051. The SEM analysis revealed a positive relationship between WRMSDs and personal factors (with path coefficient = 0.313 and p < 0.05) as well as work-related factors (with path coefficient = 0.296 and p < 0.05). However, the relationship between WRMSDs and habitual factors was not statistically significant (with path coefficient = 0.142 and p > 0.05). Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the factors that influence the prevalence of WRMSDs among dumper operators. The findings highlight the significance of personal and work-related factors by which one can make a positive decision to prevent and reduce the incidence of WRMSDs among dumper operators. © 2023, Springer Nature Limited.