Two haulers passing can cause
collision avoidance systems to
trigger false alarms.
FEATURE MINE SAFETY
T
hese factors have generated a
global motivation to focus on
vehicle safety within mines,
including increased regulation
and legislation that will soon require mining
organisations to have and use a safety
system that can detect and minimise vehicle
collisions.
South Africa, for example, recently passed
legislation stating that any open-pit mine
in which a collision risk was signii cant had
to include a means for any “diesel-powered
trackless mobile machine” to automatically
detect the presence of any other such
machine within its vicinity, and upon
detecting the presence of another machine,
the operators in both vehicles shall be alerted
to each other’s presence by means of an
ef ective warning, such as an audible and/or
visual cue.
Australia does not yet have legislation in
place, however, New South Wales has pre-
specii ed basic capabilities that mines must
adhere to when their legislation is enacted,
according to Modular Mining Systems global
sales manager Edward Bardo.
“A mine that requires Proximity Awareness
Technology must utilise a system that alertsthe operator to a potential collision; this alert
could include an audible alarm, a visual cue,
or both,” he said.
“Meanwhile, a site that requires Safety
Adherence Technology must implement
a system that alerts operators to potential
hazards via audible alarm – visual cues may
also accompany this alarm – and physically
stops the vehicle’s forward trajectory.
“While many collision awareness systems
do not yet have this next-level ability to stop
a vehicle remotely, the global demand for
this capability will likely increase.”
Several collision awareness systems areTowards a collision
free mine
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http://www.miningmonthly.com December 2017 AMM 35