Hexagon says it is celebrating a new chapter in the safety journey unfolding with Gold Fields Ghana, presenting more details at Mining Indaba, in Cape Town, South Africa, of how the two have collaborated on the mine’s pursuit of safer operations.
Tarkwa uses Hexagon’s Operator Alertness System (OAS) and Collision Avoidance System (CAS). OAS employs advanced sensor technology and machine-learning algorithms to monitor operators’ alertness levels. When signs of distraction, drowsiness, or microsleeps are detected, operators receive real-time notifications, providing a crucial layer of protection during their shifts.
CAS is a leading collision avoidance solution for protecting drivers and equipment, providing 360-degree NLOS (non-line-of-sight propagation) operator awareness for vehicles, assets and operators – through snow, rain, fog and dust. More than 65,000 systems are deployed worldwide.
Tarkwa Mine has seen a 91% reduction in fatigue-related incidents, and credits Hexagon support and training with helping to ensure operator compliance, Hexagon says.
Stephen Boamah, Safety & Occupational Hygiene Manager at Gold Fields Ghana, said: “Human beings are designed to sleep, so during night shifts, fatigue sets in. This is where Hexagon assists in managing the safety of our people.
“Over the years, we have recorded significant incidents, and the stats are clear, the data doesn’t lie. We had recorded fatigue-related incidents and equipment-to-equipment head-on collisions. We wanted to bring to bear our culture of care, and to fulfill the corrective actions, leading to Hexagon coming on board. They have improved our operations significantly.”
Daniel Korsah, Business Improvement Manager, Tarkwa, Gold Fields Ghana, added: “It’s evident the role technology plays in enhancing safety. Having access to data allows us to evaluate at-risk behaviour from a system point of view. This has helped management narrow down the specific at-risk behaviours we need to target to ensure operators are safe. It has been an integral part of Tarkwa’s success as far as our safety journey is concerned in building the safety discipline and culture we want to build as part of Gold Fields’ operations.
“We’ve had a 91% reduction in fatigue-related incidents…we have operational shifts running entire quarters without a single fatigue event being recorded, which is a great success for the job that has been done with this system at Tarkwa.
“For the CAS system, we get to know our heatmaps, we get to know our intersection areas where we had frequent occurring collision events that leads to the sort of interventions that we need to put in place at these targeted areas.”
Boamah adds: “Bringing Hexagon on board has strengthened our mining operations. There are other products, but they don’t bring us the safety and security that Hexagon brings to the table. They have real-time reporting, and the fatigue management is superb…the collision avoidance is a state-of-the-art product, and then the support from Hexagon is top-notch.”
Technology is just one layer of mine safety. Change management and data insights are also important layers. Neither CAS nor OAS standalone are 100% effective. Even when both solutions are combined operators must still be engaged and re-engaged in a cycle of continuous improvement.
Tarkwa Mine Manager, Gold Fields Ghana, Dr. Catherine Kuupol Kuutor, describes the journey of training and improvement: “It took their [Hexagon’s] training for us to build the people within the company, the engineers, to start managing it. So, there has been that transfer of knowledge from Hexagon to Gold Fields and now Gold Fields is using this knowledge to maintain the system as expected.
“There has been a win-win for us in terms of safety, in terms of transfer of knowledge, in terms of how we can proactively resolve issues.
“Gold Fields has demonstrated its duty of care towards employees by committing to some of these capital investments, which then makes the operator feel that if Gold Fields as a company has invested so much for my safety, why don’t I comply so I can be safe for my family, my kids and the community?
“So, we have demonstrated that and Hexagon, through the technologies, has actually allowed us to be able to live up to our values. And one of the first values in Gold Fields is safety. If we cannot mine safely, we will not mine.”