Proximity detection systems (PDS) can give a range of insights that can be used to create safer workplaces. These include gathering and analysing site-specific data that allows for the planning of safe and efficient traffic flows.

According to PDS developer Booyco Electronics CEO Anton Lourens, the rapid development of digital communication and sensor technology is opening many doors to higher safety levels.

“PDS can today locate vehicles and personnel in real time, giving mines the ability to recognise patterns in traffic movement,” says Lourens. “From this starting point, traffic management strategies can be developed to keep people away from trackless mining machinery.”

The data collected can identify ‘hot spots’ where potential collisions could occur, allowing traffic management plans to be adapted to enable the separation of people from equipment, and equipment from each other.

“This is giving PDS a vital role in each mine’s code of practice (COP), making these interventions specific rather than generalised,” he says. “Every mine has its own specific traffic conditions and operational requirements, for instance, and PDS helps provide insight into those conditions so that the COP is kept relevant and effective.”

Booyco Electronics Asset Management System (BEAMS) software suite is a central information hub that gives mines insights into operational interactions.

“BEAMS analyses a huge amount of data from vehicles, uncovering important aspects such as unsafe patterns of behaviour,” says Lourens. “This gives management the basis for responding with strategies that mitigate risk and enhance safety.”

He also highlights the growing use of sensor technology in enhancing the health and safety benefits of PDS. These innovations have, as example, added a close-up and more accurate sensing approach to the traditional long-distance detection technology.

“We have designed our CXS range of PDS solutions so that we can readily augment the system architecture with sensors,” he says. “By combining various sensing technologies, we develop flexible solutions that make for safer working environments – as they are specific to customer and operational requirements.”

Lourens reiterates that the application of PDS technology can only be effective when based on a thorough risk assessment. This, he says, will ensure that the mine’s selection of a solution is relevant to their needs and conditions.