We will be closing the nominations for the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame in August. Do you wish to nominate someone who has contributed in an outstanding way to technology development or good practice to make sure all mine workers return home? Contact john@im-mining.com about nominations.
The chosen nominees will be inducted at the International Mining Technology Hall of Fame gala dinner at the Hyatt Regency at Colorado Convention Center, Denver on February 25, 2019. The dinner is a key event in the SME Annual Conference week.
The current nominations shortlist in Safety (sponsored by FLSmidth) has an occupational hygienist, Ryan Wynch, in collaboration with Flinders University’s Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) and the South Australian government, developed a new product to tackle dehydration and form more efficient health and safety policies in the mining industry. Hydralert is a monitoring device installed in urinals, which will analyse water levels in workers’ urine giving instant analysis and feedback to inform the miner in question if they may be suffering dehydration.
Andy O’Brien and Andy Cecala are nominated for their work indeveloping several new innovations including the dust booth and the helmet cam (& Evade software). Andy O’Brien is VP of Safety & Health for Unimin Corporation based in Winchester, VA and Andy Cecala works with NIOSH out of Pittsburg, PA.
Nigel Bain was appointed General Manager of Barrick’s Turquoise Ridge mine in mid-2011, and quickly set about revamping the mine’s safety culture. This underground operation located in northern Nevada, is situated on terrain that is difficult to mine. The ground is highly fractured and rock quality is poor, making safety a challenge. At one point in its history, the operation was included among a group of Nevada mines known as ‘widow makers’ due to the high number of fatalities that had occurred at them.
Murray Johns is the man behind Optalert, which has received validation for its real-time operator alertness monitoring system by academics from one of the most prestigious research institutions, Harvard in the US. Optalert CEO Scott Coles said Professor Czeisler of Harvard Medical School was part of a cross-institutional study concluding the Optalert fatigue detection product as setting the ‘gold standard’ in early fatigue detection – a key component of workplace safety.
Readers are encouraged to vote for these or other nominations as they are reported.
Past inductees in safety include Dr Daniel Bongers (SmartCap), John Pierce-Jones (Trolex ventilation monitoring) and Jim Joy (Global Mining Industry Risk Management). SmartCap, Bongers being the latest inductee, is a wearable fatigue monitoring technology that uses a modified baseball cap to read an individual’s EEG to determine their level of alertness. This level is used notify the operator/management of their elevated risk of having a micro-sleep/fatigue event. http://www.im-halloffame.com/safety-3/
There is a total of 12 categories and nominations are welcomed for all of them: Bulk Handling, Concentration, Comminution, Exploration, Environmental Management and Stewardship, Metallurgy, Mining Software, Safety (sponsored by FLSmidth), Surface Mining, Underground Development, Underground Production and Outstanding Innovator.
www.im-halloffame.com