After a series of
miscommunications at a surface mine in Ray, Ariz. in 2012, a haul truck,
several stories tall and used for transporting enormous loads of ore, rolled
over a regular-sized vehicle that was invisible to the driver of the haul
truck, killing the driver of the vehicle and injuring another of its two
occupants. Fatal accidents happen each year in mines across Arizona, despite
ongoing efforts to curb their prevalence by carefully analyzing each accident
to find its root cause and instituting new practices to prevent future
accidents. Now, UA scientists are stepping in. Funded by grants from the Mine
Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, and the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, and support from Science Foundation
Arizona, UA researchers are developing interactive computer games to better
train miners to avoid fatal accidents and potential emergencies while working
in mines.
After a fatal mining accident, MSHA investigates the events leading up to the incident and produces a report, known as a fatalgram. Each year, these accident reports are used to help train miners to know what types of accidents can occur in a mine and what to do to avoid or avert them. The standard training approach has been a paper packet of information to read through, with summary questions at the end. Hill and Brown are taking a different approach: By allowing miners to play the role of characters in each situation, they can make decisions leading to alternate outcomes and can replay the games as many times as necessary to understand the potential consequences of each decision they make. Researchers created computer games based on the MSHA fatalgram reports, replicating the incidences as playable scenarios in which miners can take the role of individuals involved at the scene and can make decisions that influence the outcome and may lead to avoiding the accident.
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