By :Neville Judd Hexagon Mining
People are a mine’s most precious resource. Ensuring their safety amid heavy traffic, large equipment, and poor visibility challenges all mines, especially in regions where governments are demanding tougher safety standards.
Accommodating the pressure for productivity with the need for safety is a fine balance. But Hexagon Mining believes safety solutions that put people first need not be at the expense of efficiency and results. In fact, money spent on safety is the most solid investment a mine can make.
Hexagon Mining’s safety solutions offer 360-degree protection through collision avoidance, vehicle intervention, early-warning detection systems, fatigue monitoring, and slope stability monitoring. Here’s a summary.
Our Collision Avoidance System (CAS) is used in more than 25,000 vehicles and in over 60 mines worldwide. It gives vehicle operators 360-degree proximity detection at any speed and in all conditions via unobtrusive cabin display units. For operators, CAS represents peace of mind. It helps them work more confidently and productively, especially in poor visibility caused by rain, snow, and fog. It also helps at night when the system becomes invaluable, helping drivers to work more smoothly and efficiently.
Fully integrated with CAS is Fatigue Monitor, which uses proven computer vision technology to monitor operators unobtrusively while driving. While most preventive systems and wearables are limited to fatigue, computer vision also identifies operator distraction and can therefore help to keep attention on the road.
Our newly launched and award-winning vehicle intervention solution, HxGN Mine VIS, is an additional layer of safety. VIS is the industry’s first vehicle intervention system that detects and prevents collisions by automatically slowing down or even stopping a haul truck if an imminent collision is detected.
The product is being installed at Anglo American Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in South Africa, well ahead of government regulations compelling mine operators to install vehicle intervention technology on vehicles by June 2019. It was also voted 2017 Safety Award winner by readers of Mining Magazine!
New on the market in 2018 is HxGN Mine Personal Alert, a small accident-avoidance device worn by field personnel. Using Time of Flight technology in the Ultra-Wide Band frequency, it communicates with a system of detectors anchored to vehicles equipped with CAS. Anyone working around heavy machinery will now be visible using Personal Alert. Operators will “see” anyone within 50 meters of their vehicle, thus eliminating blind spots.
Safety is also at the heart of our integration of planning, operations, geodetic slope monitoring, surveying, UAV, (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and radar-based monitoring systems. Automated motorized total stations and GNSS technology are pivotal to risk management in mining high walls, tailings dams, and other critical structures. Leica GeoMos can combine any geotechnical, meteorological, hydrological or other sensors into its analysis and dashboard platform, correlating all pertinent data into one location. Complementing GeoMos is the IBIS radar from IDS’s GeoRadar division, which was recently acquired by Hexagon.
The IBIS radar is an interferometric mine slope radar that addresses the need for critical safety and long-term slope monitoring. It’s used in more than 170 locations worldwide and has warned prior to slope failure in many prominent mining groups.
Ultimately, the most important asset coming out of a mine at the end of the day isn’t what’s extracted – it’s the people who make it all possible. That’s why Hexagon Mining is committed to integrating its wide technology portfolio to deliver a holistic view of a mine, bringing with it benefits for both safety and productivity.
Join us for HxGN LIVE 2018! ,Hexagon’s Premier Cross-Industry Technology Conference,Las Vegas, NV, 12-15 June 2018,hxgnlive.com
