Professor Burgess-Limerick's Prof Burgess-Limerick has eclectic research interests ranging across the broad scope of human factors and ergonomics from visual perception and movement control, through workplace interventions to prevent injuries due to manual tasks, the design of mining equipment, and the integration of automation.

Professor Burgess-Limerick's current projects include: developing technology to allow continuous measurement of whole-body vibration at surface coal mines; human factors of mining equipment to improve worker diversity; ensuring effective human-systems integration of automation within the mining industry.

Professor Burgess-Limerick has been a member of academic staff at The University of Queensland since 1995. Prof Burgess-Limerick completed his Bachelor of Human Movement Studies, and Hons degrees at The University of Queensland, and returned to the University to undertake his PhD in occupational biomechanics. He is a Certified Professional member (CPE), past-president, and Fellow, of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia Inc. Professor Burgess-Limerick has received national and international awards for his research including the Tom Triggs Memorial award and the John Lane award (Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia), a Research Excellence award from the Australian Coal Association Research Program, and a Senior Research Associate award from the National Academy of Sciences (USA).

Industry Engagement

Professor Burgess-Limerick has provided consultancy and research services to numerous mining companies and equipment manufacturers including Anglo American, BHP, Caterpillar, Glencore, Newcrest, Newmont, Peabody Energy Australia, QGC Shell, Rio Tinto, and Sandvik Mining. Professor Burgess-Limerick has also provided services to public sector agencies including Safework Australia, the Queensland, NSW and WA mining regulators, and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. Prof Burgess-Limerick is a member of Standards Australia Mirror committee ME-063 (Earth-moving equipment) and AV-010 (Vibration And Shock Human Effects)

Collaborations

Professor Burgess-Limerick has research collaborations with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, the School of Psychology, and the School of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at UQ, as well as other national and international universities including Monash University, Laurentian University (CANADA), University of Washington and University of Pittsburgh (USA) and a long-standing collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (USA).

Key Publications

Horberry, T., Burgess-Limerick, R & Steiner, L. (2011) Human Factors for the Design, Operation and Maintenance of Mining Equipment. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Burgess-Limerick, R., Cotea, C., Pietrzak, E., & Fleming, P. (2011). Human Systems Integration in Defence and civilian industries. Australian Defence Force Journal, 186, 51-60.

Burgess-Limerick, R., Joy, J., Cooke, T. & Horberry. T (2012). EDEEP - An innovative process for improving the safety of mining equipment. Minerals, 2, 272-282.

Burgess-Limerick, R. & Lynas, D. (2015) An iOS application for evaluating whole-body vibration within a workplace risk management process. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 12, D137-D142.

Burgess-Limerick, R. (2018). Participatory ergonomics: Evidence and implementation lessons. Applied Ergonomics, 68, 289-293. 

Horberry, T., Burgess-Limerick, R & Steiner, L. (2018) Human-Centered Design for Mining Equipment and New Technology. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Full list of publications available on espace

 

Funding

Professor Burgess-Limerick's research has been funded by >$6.5M in research grants from the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission, National Health and Medical Research Council, Workcover Queensland (QComp), Commonwealth Department of Health, the Coal Services Health and Safety Trust (NSW), the Australian Coal Association Research Program, and the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.