South African miners are now packing more than a hard hat when they go underground. A pilot project, run by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) at a local colliery, is sending miners underground armed with handheld devices to collect real-time data at the coalface.
The pilot project has mine supervisors collecting health and safety information underground which is synchronised with central database servers when the cages return to the surface.
According to the CSIR Mining Technology division, information-capturing requirements have increased significantly in the mining industry over the past few years, both from legal and operational viewpoints.
Most of this information must be generated by the front-line supervisor, primarily using forms which must then be input into the main mine information system, representing a considerable administrative task.
The CSIR-developed software reduces the workload of the mine supervisor and allows supervisors to gather data on-site. The Web-based software seamlessly transfers information from the personal digital assistant to the main mine systems, intranet and Internet.
Future plans for the project include wireless synchronising of data between devices and the main mine database using wireless large area network and Bluetooth technology.
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