Improving Footwear for Underground Coal Miners Jessica A
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+ University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2018 Improving Footwear for Underground Coal Miners Jessica A. Dobson University of Wollongong Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong. Recommended Citation Dobson, Jessica A., Improving Footwear for Underground Coal Miners, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, 2018. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1/559 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Improving Footwear for Underground Coal Miners Jessica A. Dobson Bachelor of Science (Honours Class I) Supervisors: Prof Julie Steele Dr Diane Riddiford-Harland Dr Alison Bell Dr Caleb Wegener This thesis is presented as part of the requirement for the conferral of the degree: Doctor of Philosophy This research has been conducted with the support of the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and funding by the Coal Services Health and Safety Trust School of Medicine Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health 2018 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my parents Margaret and Serge Dobson. I am extremely fortunate that between the two of you I was able to learn all the necessary skills needed to allow myself to succeed in whatever I set my mind to. I could not have asked for two better role models to look up to in my life. Thank you for all the sacrifices you have never hesitated to make for me and for just being genuinely interested in everything I do. Who knew your baby would turn out to be an academic… a testimony to how patient you both were during my childhood! i Certification I, Jessica A. Dobson, declare that this thesis “Improving Footwear for Underground Coal Miners”, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Jessica Ann Dobson 21/12/ 2018 ii Publications This thesis includes chapters that have been written as the following journal articles: Chapter 2: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F. & Steele, J.R. 2018. Are underground coal miners satisfied with their work boots? Applied Ergonomics 66: 98-104. Chapter 3: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F. & Steele, J.R. 2017. Effect of work boot type on work footwear habits, lower limb pain and perceptions of work boot fit and comfort in underground coal miners. Applied Ergonomics 60: 146-153. Chapter 4: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F. & Steele, J.R. 2018. The three-dimensional shapes of underground coal miners’ feet do not match their internal boot dimensions. Ergonomics 61: 588-604. Chapter 5: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F. & Steele, J.R. 2018. How do we fit underground coal mining work boots? Ergonomics, published online: 01 Nov 2018. Chapter 6: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F. & Steele, J.R. 2017. Work boot design affects the way workers walk: A systematic review of the literature. Applied Ergonomics 61: 53-68. Chapter 7: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F., Wegener, C. & Steele, J.R. 2019. Effect of shaft stiffness and sole flexibility on perceived comfort and the plantar pressures generated when walking on a simulated underground coal mining surface. Applied Ergonomics (submitted for publication October 2018). Chapter 8: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F., Wegener, C. & Steele, J.R. 2019. Effect of work boot shaft stiffness and sole flexibility on lower limb muscle activity and ankle alignment at initial foot-ground contact when walking on simulated coal mining surfaces: Implications for iii reducing slip risk. Applied Ergonomics (submitted for publication December 2018). Chapter 9: Dobson, J.A., Riddiford-Harland, D.L., Bell, A.F., Wegener, C. & Steele, J.R. 2019. Effect of work boot shaft stiffness and sole flexibility on toe clearance and shank muscle activity when walking on simulated coal mining surfaces: Implications for reducing trip risk. Applied Ergonomics (submitted for publication December 2018). As the primary supervisor, I, Professor Julie Steele, declare that the greater part of the work in each article listed above is attributed to the candidate, Jessica Dobson. In each of the above manuscripts, Jessica contributed to the study design, recruited participants, was solely responsible for data collection and data analysis and was largely responsible for statistical analysis and data interpretation. The first draft of each manuscript was written by the candidate and Jessica was then responsible for responding to the editing suggestions of her co-authors. The co-authors, Diane Riddiford-Harland, Alison Bell, Caleb Wegener and Julie Steele were responsible for assisting in study design, data interpretation and editing the relevant manuscripts. Jessica has been solely responsible for submitting each manuscript for publication to the relevant journals and she has been primarily in charge of responding to reviewer’s comments, with assistance from her co- authors. Jessica Dobson Julie Steele 21/12/2018 21/12/2018 iv Acknowledgements Thank you to Professor Julie Steele. I consider myself very lucky to have had not only such a well-established researcher but a friendly, caring and passionate person as my primary supervisor. Dr Diane Riddiford-Harland, your passion for teaching and research is contagious and I consider myself very fortunate to have had you on my supervisory team throughout this whole journey. I would also like to thank my co-supervisors; Dr Alison Bell, your input was invaluable when submitting publications to ergonomics journals, and Dr Caleb Wegener, thank you for turning my ideas into a functioning boot design. To have you come on board as a supervisor strengthened the output of Chapters 7-9. This project was funded by the Coal Services Health and Safety and the test boots for Chapters 7-9 were provided by Mack Boots. I am very grateful I was able to have industry support by people who were genuinely passionate about improving work boot design. Thanks to Mr Mark McColl, we couldn’t have done this project without someone who understood underground coal mining as much as you. Thank you to South 32 for the help with participant recruitment, especially Daryl Mowbray. And thank you to Shayne Gladden for organising my trip underground and answering my many mining related questions. To the miners and trades workers who volunteered to participate; this thesis would not have been possible without all of you and I hope ‘the boot girl’ delivered! Thank you to everyone who has come and gone and those who are still a part of the Biomechanics Research Laboratory. I have met so many amazing people from all over the globe and you all have made my time a lot more enjoyable. Special mention to my mentor Dr Gho, thank you for all the words of wisdom; Celeste, my high achieving target to chase; James and Josh for all the technical help and, Brooke and Kate, thank you for all the laughs. My Family, I could not have done this without all the love and support I received from all of you. I have always felt confident striving for big achievements as I know I have a massive support crew right behind me cheering me on and ready to catch me if I fall. v Ashlee and Logan, thank you for making this all worthwhile and putting everything into context. You two are my Number 1 fans and have provided encouragement, inspiration, hugs and laughs when I have needed them the most. Thank you for getting me over the line. Love you both so much. I can’t wait to see what our future holds. My best friends Nicole Wellham and Renee Callender, thank you for always genuinely believing I could finish my PhD, you were always there to pick me up when I was down and didn’t let me quit, even though I really really wanted to at times. Thank you to the rest of my amazing friends, Isla, Roslyn, Dee, Shauna, Amy, Shaz, Cass, Marin, Leah, Carley, Jaz and Laura, you have all played a role in keeping my spirits high throughout this long tiring journey and giving me much needed timeouts from thesis life. Throughout this PhD journey I was continually amazed at the kindness and willingness to help of all the people that I met. Thank you to my research assistants Mary, Maddi, Alvin and Cheyenne for all the help/emotional support you provided for Chapters 7-9 - I could not have done it without you four! Erin, David and Ben, thank you for helping out with data collection. Caleb, Ali, Jade and Loz, thank you for assisting as practice participants and Dan my boot model. Thank you Andrew Whittle from Southern Prosthetics & Orthotics for donating the prosthetic foot I used in Chapter 7, Leanne Treadwell for assisting with participant recruitment, and to Keith and Doug from Engineering who made multiple trips to the lab to fix/build equipment. A final thanks to Xander Stamenkovic, Chris Richards and Lauren North for the Matlab help and to Michael Tran, my protégé for helping out wherever you could and always making me laugh, even on the hardest thesis days. vi Abstract Background: Underground coal miners are required to remain on their feet for most of their 8-12 hour working shift.