FLSmidth is the sponsor of the Safety category for this year’s International Mining Technology Hall of Fame. So the company will be presenting the 2015 inductee for safety at the gala dinner event at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, on February 22, during SME Annual Conference week. Anyone wishing to make a nomination has until the end of this month. The nominations so far are:
Richard Snively and Justine Blank of Snively Inc. and Ecom Instruments’ Rolf Neid and Kevin Spence are nominated for the first ever MSHA Permissible Mobile Computer (Ci70-EX) and Safety Tracker Software. Anything a laptop or tablet computer can do, can now be performed on the MSHA Permissible Ci70-EX Mobile Computer at the face and all areas of a mine without the fear of “Non-Permissible” equipment accidentally getting taken into hazardous areas and potentially causing an accident.
It was initially developed to record data from inspections of 3500-5000 SCSR (Self Contained-Self Rescuers) every 90 days to a twenty-point inspection. This manual process was an extremely time-consuming process, prone to errors, exposure to MSHA fines due to errors and an overwhelming burden. This process would consume a safety tech’s time in locating, inspecting and reporting; therefore leaving little or no time for proactive safety measures in the mine. It can now all be done at the face on computer using barcode technology.
Greg Baiden, Penguin Automated Systems CEO. In 2015 the company shipped what is thought to be the world’s first hangup assessment and clearing robotic system to Codelco’s Andina mine in Chile. The robot hangup clearance unit features an arm that extends 4.6 m horizontally and 10 m vertically through the throat of a drawbell in a block cave mine. At the end of the arm are a 3D camera, an infrared lighting system, a drill and an explosives loader. The robot scans the inside of the drawbell and creates a virtual map of the hangup.
Optalert’s fatigue detection products have been developed with more than 20 years of research by a team which over the years has developed new methods of measuring eye and eyelid movements. This then led to the world’s first validated scale of drowsiness – the Johns Drowsiness Scale – after Optalert founder and Chief Scientist Dr Murray Johns.
As the Founder and Chairman of British-based Trolex, one of the leading names in hazardous gas detection and environmental condition monitoring, John Pierce-Jones has led the development of a number of systems that have revolutionised mine safety around the world, saving thousands of lives.
