Abstract
This report describes background research and concept development on a project intended to design, construct, and evaluate devices to reduce the injury risk and manual effort associated with the handling of maintenance materials in underground coal mines. Project activities included a review of literature, previous research programs, and accident statistics; visits to mines for study and data collection; data analysis and specification development; and concept generation and evaluation. Five prototype manual material handling devices were then designed, fabricated, and transported to operating coal mines for field evaluation.
