How hard do mineworkers work? An assessment of workplace stress associated with routine mining activities

Abstract

Mining operations are frequently associated with difficult working conditions and high levels of workplace stress. Workplace stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that oc-cur when the psychological and/or physiological requirements of the job do not match the capabilities or needs of the worker. Evidence in the literature suggest that unacceptable levels of workplace stress influence workers' health and safety and could result in accidents and injuries, as well as poorer worker well being. Information on the physiological strain (the combined strain reflected by the thermoregulatory and car-diovascular systems) of mineworkers is rather limited and, where information is available, it has been based on the physiological responses of young, healthy males only. There is also no information available on the role of psychological factors in the development of workplace stress in the local mining industry. At present mines are required to accommodate a diverse workforce comprising of males and females. The current difficulties experienced with the placement of female miners in underground occupations where physical work is performed, highlights the need for more information on the physiological strain and psycho-logical stress associated with mining occupations. To address this lack of specific knowledge exploratory stu-dies were undertaken and the results obtained are discussed in this paper.