SMART PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT IN THE COAL MINING INDUSTRY

At the current stage of coal industry development in the Russian Federation, we need to focus on human actions in the industrial environment. The authors consider including the position of a human factor (ergonomics) specialist in the manning table of mining companies. The article reviews approaches to workplace layout and the option of equipping mine workers with smart personal protective equipment (Smart PPE). Technical solutions were proposed to control the use of PPE by employees using a safety helmet as an example. The article contains the results of employee surveys in Russian coal companies conducted at two stages. The first stage encompassed more than 350 employees to assess the level of PPE availability in the workplace. The second stage identified the employees' attitude towards the use of PPE with additional capabilities. Up to 30% of respondents were found to be willing to use PPE with advanced functions as well as to be involved in their implementation.