The platinum mining sector has recently come under significant scrutiny, specifically with regard to the way in which platinum mine employers are ensuring the safety of their workers at all of the sector’s mines in South Africa, says electrical and mechanical engineering products supplier Deebar marketing manager Richard Barley.

In response to this, Deebar assists mines in achieving fatality-free shifts by providing safety-related products to and installing them at platinum mines in South Africa.

Deebar has been in partnership with and has embarked on various shaft-safety projects at the world’s number one platinum producer Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and platinum major Impala Platinum (Implats) to promote employee safety.

Deebar was awarded a contract to manufacture 200 station stopping devices, also known as stop blocks, for 17 of Implats’ mine shafts in September last year to prevent rolling stock from falling down the shaft.

Deebar started manufacturing the stop blocks for Implats immediately after receipt of the order and will deliver ten units a month to the respective shafts, as scheduled by Implats, explains Barley.

Ten safety systems have been supplied each month, but from this month, nine units will be supplied each month for the next three months.

To date, 92 complete stop block units with pneumatic systems have been delivered to different Implats shafts.

Deebar installed the first 12 stop block units as a means to train the mineworkers from the various shafts in the installation method used. As from this month, however, the mines will install the safety systems and Deebar will inspect and commission them, subsequent to the installation.

The stop blocks can be installed on every underground level and bank to provide safety when moving rolling stock in the shaft area.

Barley says the unit is extremely robust and is manufactured from structural steel.

He further explains that the Deebar stop block is the first phase of the safety system. The second phase comprises a pneumatic and interlock panel that is, in turn, interlocked to the Belltronic shaft-signalling lock bells, which is used to communicate between the onsetter and the driver.

The Deebar interlocking panels, which are conveniently placed next to the shaft signalling panel on the station, also have the ability to interlock the shaft gates, conveyance equipment and any other additional shaft safety devices to the Belltronic shaft bell unit.

The stop block can be operated manually or pneumatically.

Deebar’s stop blocks and associated equipment can be used on any type of rolling stock, such as locomotives, material cars or rail-bound vehicles, to control vehicles that have accidentally passed the haulage stoppers and have entered the station area, explains Barley.

For example, Deebar’s shaft safety devices can bring a runaway locomotive with four fully laden hoppers, travelling at 16 km/h, to a complete stop. This device can absorb 160 kJ of kinetic energy.

Deebar has manufactured and delivered more than 300 shaft safety devices over the last ten years to platinum, gold and diamond mines in South Africa.

This includes the installation of stop blocks, with certain shafts equipped with a full D-Matrix signalling unit, with event monitoring and recording capabilities, at several Amplats shafts, in Rustenburg, as well as Slam It shaft gate locks on several platinum, gold and diamond mine shafts.

Meanwhile, in 2010, Amplats also contracted Deebar to manufacture and install the Deebar two-man safety lockout systems at substations on their various shafts, after a fatal accident occurred because of unauthorised entry to the electrical substations at one of the mines.

The Deebar two-man safety lockout system is designed to prevent a designated area from being accessed by more than two people at any time. This safety feature is crucial in preventing unauthorised entry into secure areas, such as substations.