ABSTRACT
The foregoing chapters have been concerned with the socio-psychological characteristics of the main systems of mining, with variations in the form of work organization within the same technology, and with the effects on work organization of further mechanization of the conventional longwall. Our next consideration is to develop measures that will describe these systems in operation and hence facilitate comparison between them. For reasons explained in Chapter II, direct comparison of production units was not possible, but during the course of fieldwork the notion was developed of comparing the various systems in terms of the degree to which they approached their potential limit of productivity. A method would, therefore, be required for estimating the difference between the actual productivity of the face and what it would be if those factors which interfered with its smooth operation could be eliminated.
