Fast, effective and reliable breath alcohol detectors are essential in preventing workers from entering mines under the influence of alcohol.
So says Rhys Evans, director of Alco-Safe, a provider of electronic breath alcohol detectors, who notes that mining is one of the most dangerous industries to work in, as it has high potential for occupational accidents.
Hazardous conditions, with intoxicated personnel operating in dangerous environments, puts workers and their colleagues at risk, as well as creating additional liability for mining companies themselves, says Evans.
However, testing every employee as they enter the workplace can be a time-consuming process that is often the source of dissension among workers, he points out.
He explains that traditional breathalyser technology typically requires a health and safety officer to attach a mouthpiece to the device, which the subject must make physical contact with and blow a long sample of breath.
The mouthpiece must be changed for every person tested, for hygiene reasons, which significantly slows the process, he explains, adding that if the breath specimen is insufficient, the test must be performed again, resulting in further delays.
According to Evans, the latest electronic breath alcohol detectors are fast, accurate and non-invasive, making mandatory testing upon entry into a mine a real possibility.
As an example, he says the Lion Alcoblow Rapid Test is a high-speed device which requires a tiny sample of breath in order to deliver an accurate pass/fail reading.
He adds that the rapid test does not require physical contact between the subject and the device, and uses a pressure sensor that only requires a very small breath sample to deliver results. The device has a nose cone built onto the end, which is held five to 15cm away from the test subject's mouth.
"The person being tested simply blows from the correct distance into the cone and within seconds a result is displayed via LED lights. The use of LEDs allows the instrument to be extremely battery efficient being able to conduct approximately 6 000 tests on one set of 4AA batteries," notes Evans.
"The short sample time enables the instrument to be used in situations where an employer has a zero tolerance approach and needs to test large numbers of employees without incurring queues which form because employees must blow into the instrument more than once or for a long time," he says.
He notes that there is also a siren which sounds if there is a positive test. "A feature necessary to discourage security staff excepting bribes," says Evans.
Evans explains that the device has a touch screen and full data logging ability that allows the operator to insert the test subject's name, surname and ID number into the instrument after a test has been conducted. "The information will then be saved to that test and recalled at a later stage or printed via the portable printer or downloaded onto a PC and shown in excel format for statistics or test reviewing. It also has a GPS function which allows a person to see exactly where each test was conducted," he concludes.
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