The innovative use of smart technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) is seen as key to improving health and safety in South Africa’s mining industry.

Vodacom Business conducted a trial of its Connected Worker solution in a mining operation last year. “The solution centres on a connected, track-and-trace wearable device for mineworkers, with a linked data-insights dashboard that gives real-time feedback to health and safety officers,” explains Vodacom managing executive mining resources and manufacturing Thando Sibindi. “In this trial, we deployed 8 000 devices which enabled better oversight and management of worker safety, team productivity, and the resource scheduling of contractors. It goes without saying that improved safety and productivity are an added benefit which in turn results in cost savings for the operator in the long run.”

The smart device resembles a smart watch and is based on NarrowBand IoT, or NB-IoT, technology which is designed to drastically improve the battery life of the device, even in hard-to-reach coverage areas, such as a mine. The device can be hooked onto a mineworker’s personal protective equipment and includes features such as a device-battery status and GPS location, hazardous-gas sensors, fall and no-motion detection and a panic button.

“This means the device will log an alert in real-time if the worker presses the panic button, falls or is injured and is not moving, enabling a rapid emergency response that could save a life,” explains Sibindi. “Should the worker enter a hazardous or restricted area – these are geofenced on a digitised map by the company ahead of device deployment – it will trigger a notification so they can move back to safety.”

Real-time insights into each worker’s whereabouts help mine operators ensure the safety of workers and also allow the company to see how much time is spent in assigned areas of production by individual workers, helping to improve overall productivity and ensure effective resource scheduling. The operator has access to incident reports that give an overview of a site’s health and safety environment, including daily incident reports of gas detection over a 24-hour period.

“The reality is ‘fit for the future’ companies across various industries are embracing Internet of technology solutions because they’ve started reaping the benefits of an IoT-led future,” concludes Sibindi.