1400 N. Bishop, Rolla, MO 65409-0330

Eugene Gyawu, a doctoral candidate in mining engineering, will defend their dissertation titled “Applying Human System Integration Principles to the Investigation, Design and Validation of Interventions for Self-escape in Underground Mines” Their advisor, Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, is Union Pacific/Rock Mountain Energy Professor of Mining Engineering, and department chair of mining and explosives engineering. Their co-advisor, Dr. Denise Baker, was previously an associate professor in the psychological science department.  The dissertation abstract is provided below.

This dissertation investigates the use of human systems integration (HSI) to develop technologies for miners’ self-escape during a mine emergency, addressing barriers that compromise miner safety during emergencies.

Recognizing the inherently hazardous nature of underground mining, this study identifies three core objectives: (1) assessing miners' perceptions of current self-escape interventions, (2) designing interventions based on these insights, and (3) validating their effectiveness using experimental testing. This work evaluates self-escape interventions for both coal and metal/non-metal miners using scenario-based surveys, information design reviews, label designs and experimental testing methods varying across three distinct studies.

Results reveal that metal/non-metal miners are more likely to shelter in place in a refuge alternative (RA) than coal miners and that RA labels and instructions designed using information design review and human-centered label redesign improve miners’ ability to deploy mobile inflatable tent RAs. The results also show the redesigned labels improvement in performance of non-engineers much more than engineers and leads to parity in performance among the two groups.

The findings underscore the importance of human systems integration in designing miner-centric technologies that address real-world operational needs. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge in human systems integration in designing technologies for miner self-escape.

  • Shari Hill
  • Dennis Dadzie
  • Samuel AduFrimpong
  • Hussam Naif S Altalhi

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