Electronic safety equipment specialist, Booyco Electronics, is poised to deploy a unique infrared detector that prevents the operators of underground equipment from overriding the equipment’s controls and getting out of machines such as drill rigs while they are still running. Harnessing infrared technology with movement sensors and driven by proprietary firmware, the company believes that the new detection system is the first of its kind in the South African mining industry. Anton Lourens, Managing Director of Booyco Electronics, describes it as a high-tech variation of a dead man’s switch, a form of fail-safe that stops the machine the moment human body heat and movement is no longer detected. It is impossible for operators to override the operational function of the system. “Despite intensified efforts to elevate safety levels in the mining industry, incidents are still occurring in which heavy machinery operators disobey certain basic safety procedures,” Lourens says. “This can, and has, resulted in fatal accidents and as part of our commitment to continuously developing new mine safety related products, we went to the drawing board to design a device capable of shutting down a live machine as soon as the operator leaves the cab.”

Six of the new Booyco Electronics “Infrared Human Detectors” are currently being trialled at a platinum mine in Rustenburg and Lourens says feedback has been valuable and positive. The system has been advanced to its third software version which is reportedly working very well. “We’re very excited about the potential of this system,” says Lourens. “It not only has mine-wide application on any equipment operated by a human, but could also be introduced in other sectors where heavy machinery is being operated. Trials will run until the end of August 2012, after which the Booyco Electronics team will roll out the system.