Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Work. 2022;73(4):1109-1115. doi: 10.3233/WOR-211430.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has adversely affected both global economy and public health around the world. These effects have also been observed in many workplaces, including mines.
This study aimed to examine the human error of copper miners during the pandemic.
This descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study was performed on 192 workers of a copper mine in Iran. For this, occupation tasks were firstly analyzed using the Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA), and then the human error in different subunits was assessed using the basic Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM). The prevalence of COVID-19 among miners was determined by assessing positive PCR test records.
The probability of human error in the operational subunits including mining, crushing, processing, and support subunits was estimated to be 0.0056, 0.056, 0.0315, and 0.0177, respectively. All three operational units were found to be in the scrambling control mode. The support unit was determined to be in the tactical control mode. Approximately 50% of all workers had been infected with COVID-19, with the highest prevalence in support units.
The results suggest that during the COVID-19 pandemic, copper miners are at higher risk of human error induced by poor working conditions. Therefore, it is recommended to employ some management strategies such as promotion of safety, health monitoring, and adopting supportive measures to control occupational stresses and therefore the probability of human error in the mine's operational units.
COVID-19 的爆发对全球经济和公共卫生造成了不利影响。这些影响在许多工作场所也有所观察，包括矿山。
本研究旨在研究大流行期间铜矿工人的人为错误。
本描述性分析、横断面研究在伊朗的一个铜矿对 192 名工人进行了研究。为此，首先使用层次任务分析（HTA）分析作业任务，然后使用基本认知可靠性和误差分析方法（CREAM）评估不同子单元中的人为错误。通过评估阳性 PCR 测试记录来确定矿工中 COVID-19 的患病率。
采矿、粉碎、加工和支持子单元的操作子单元中人为错误的概率估计分别为 0.0056、0.056、0.0315 和 0.0177。所有三个操作单元都被发现处于混乱控制模式。支持单元被确定为处于战术控制模式。大约 50%的工人感染了 COVID-19，支持单元的患病率最高。
结果表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间，铜矿工人因工作条件差而面临更高的人为错误风险。因此，建议采用一些管理策略，如促进安全、健康监测和采取支持措施，以控制矿山作业单元的职业压力和人为错误的概率。
