38 www.coalage.com September 2018
operating ideas continued
The discomfort and disability glare re-
sults for Phase 1 indicated no statistically
significant difference between the Saturn
and the traditional lighting. The De Boer
rating for both lights was eight, indicating
that discomfort glare was not an issue for
the Phase 1 location. This is noteworthy be-
cause it exemplifies the merits of the Saturn
light design to provide better illumination
to see trip hazards without increasing glare.
The discomfort and disability glare re-
sults for Phase 2 indicated statistically dif-
ferent results between the Saturn and tradi-
tional lighting. Discomfort glare improved
three levels (level five with the traditional
light to level eight with the Saturn light) on
the De Boer nine-level glare rating scale.
Saturn Light Availability
The Saturn light is available for commer-
cialization, and the design documentation
is available at www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/
content/saturnarealight.html. The down-
loadable ZIP file includes a PDF describing a
functional overview of the Saturn light, a RE-
ADME file, and numerous individual soft-
ware and schematic files created by NIOSH
and NIOSH partners in this research. The
CDC's Technology Transfer Office has ap-
proved the public release of these files.
John Sammarco, Ph.D., is a principal re-
search engineer for the Human Factors
Branch of NIOSH's Pittsburgh Mining Re-
search Division. He can be reached at jsam-
marco@cdc.gov. For further information on
NIOSH's lighting research, go to www.cdc.
gov/niosh/mining/topics/Illumination.html.
Acknowledgment
The NIOSH research team thanked J.H.
Fletcher & Co. for access to the roof bolter
used for this study.
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions in this
paper are those of the authors and do not
necessarily represent the official position
of the National Institute for Occupation-
al Safety and Health, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Mention of any
company or product does not constitute
endorsement by NIOSH.
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