A new era of safety for miners

Digital radio and its plethora of safety features may be the next best thing for mining and industrial communication.

As a team leader, the safety of the team is always a first priority. So picture this scenario: an alarm sounds - one of the team members has collapsed in a pit. The radio on his hip has moved to a horizontal angle which has triggered an alarm at the main site office.

The site’s other radios are busy with chatter about the day’s work, but the radio system’s inherently ruthless pre-emption guarantees that the ‘man-down’ signal gets priority and the team leader is immediately alerted to the accident.

The alarm signal activates the site’s incident management plan, which includes tracking team members’ locations via GPS at all times. Using the console, the leader can locate where a team member in distress is located - the mapping application has zoomed in so the spot can be easily pinpointed - and the leader is also able to find the nearest supervisors and dispatch them via radio to help the team member.

Does this sound like something you can do with your radio system today?

The importance of being digital

When it comes to communication across Australia’s business sectors, from ports to security and airports - radio is king. The same can be said for almost any mine site in Australia.

More to the point, most mines still use tried and trusted analog radios. Why? Because they’re reliable, resilient, easy to use and ubiquitous. An investment in a radio network is also nothing if not long-term, typically 10, 15 or even 20 years. Indeed, analog radio has travelled a long road and been given many facelifts along the way.

The evolution to the next stage of radio - digital - has been happening steadily for a long time now and is no longer new, but since many mines are only now nearing the end of their current radio network life cycles, it is still foreign in many places. Many of those mines are either switching directly to digital or implementing a longer-term hybrid solution to make the most of their existing networks with analog-compatible digital handsets.

The importance of being digital can’t be overstated, especially when it comes to industry safety. More simultaneous talking paths are possible with digital radio and information such as GPS tracking, active status alerts and text messaging can be easily combined into a single digital radio channel.

One button-press and site supervisors can keep all team members connected. Where voice is not an option, text can be substituted, from one-to-one to one-to-many, all from the same handset.

When it comes to improved productivity digital also shines through. A shift worker can rely on an extended 12-hour battery life to see them through their day’s duties without having to return to base to swap batteries.

The noise-cancelling qualities of digital radio and improved user range are other important reasons why more miners are choosing digital today. But perhaps the most important features of digital radio are those that don’t require any human intervention at all.

Back to the pit

Within 30 seconds of the colleague falling down the pit, the man-down alarm triggers and raises an alert.

Man-down alarm timings can be customised to suit each mine’s requirements and even be set differently for different individuals. For example, alarms can be triggered with a set of accompanying text information on a person’s vitals or with details on what the person may have been doing and how to best respond.

In addition, since the radio has built-in GPS which is connected to the inherent alarm system, it provides users with another layer of protection. This can be combined with customised mapping solutions that add a rich layer of information in emergency situations.

Consider the following demonstration:

As the command and control operator alerted to the alarm, the user ID on the team leader’s radio display tells them that the person in distress is Bill. The leader first listens to the ‘hot’ radio feed to see if they can hear any ambient noise in Bill’s environment that might provide more information. They hear nothing, so they radio the designated first aid crew to describe the scenario.

“Tony, the man-down alarm on Bill’s radio has triggered. I can see on our site map that he is in coal pit X. No ambient sounds to give me an indication of his condition. Please send a crew immediately.”

“Loud and clear Bevan. We are en route.”

“Thanks mate, I will continue to try to reach him by radio to get more information. I’ll keep you updated.”

Knowing now that a crew is en route, the team leader uses the ability to actively force Bill’s radio into ‘hot’ microphone mode, thereby giving him the opportunity to communicate with me if he is conscious.

“Bill, your man-down alarm has triggered. I am going to force your radio into hot mic mode which will give you 15 seconds to describe the situation to me if you can.”

“Bevan, I have fallen into the coal pit, I can’t move or reach my radio, but I think my leg is broken.”

“Loud and clear Bill. We know where you are and the rescue crew is on its way.”

With this extra information, the team leader (Bevan) can radio the first aid crew again and ensure they have a stretcher ready to help Bill get out of the pit safely.

The digital divide

As with any technology, there is some homework to be done before committing to an investment.

There are many digital radio technologies out there - some are proprietary and some open standard. There are some key advantages to choosing an open standards technology, not least a large, harmonised market supported by multiple vendors, which leads to more innovation, increased competition, lower prices, a greater choice of products and a much greater choice of applications for the end user.

Within this open standards arena there are three leading digital radio technologies - TETRA, DMR and APCO P25. TETRA has nearly two million users in over 100 countries, while DMR now has more than one million users (although DMR started shipping 10 years after TETRA).

These open-platform standards, while helping extend radio frequency coverage underground and on remote sites, have their own strengths and weaknesses. Depending on the application, location, site size and budget, the right digital technology for one may not suit another.

As for cost, this relates very much to the coverage required and the user density. For example, in rural or less populated areas TETRA may require more sites to provide similar coverage to DMR. In an urban or built environment, TETRA may provide more capacity than DMR.

The type of environment can often be decisive in the choice of technology. However, TETRA is almost infinitely scalable, so if coverage is needed over a larger area then it might be the only realistic choice.

As the booming trend in mine site automation continues (driverless trucks for example), mine sites are investing in technologies that will help them to manage much larger amounts of data. This is where wireless technologies including 4G mobile broadband and similar mobile technologies will become critical and complementary assets alongside digital radio. This will help miners to harness greater capabilities to communicate with and control remote applications such as real-time video surveillance or to remotely access critical telemetry data.

Regardless of the individual choices made, it’s clear that the importance of radio for communications won’t go away anytime soon and that digital radio with its advanced capabilities is the key to unlock a new era of improved safety and productivity benefits.