Application of RF identification for enhanced safety of mining personnel

Work environment in mines involving extensive number of personnel working under ground is one of the most complicated and discussed topics in the safety and security industry. Maximum possible safety of the mine personnel is also crucial for the long-term sustainability in the mining industry, which is committed to work together with experts from many different sectors to enhance safety parameters. Identification technology is one of the key resources of information about the presence of personnel in the mine, which therefore has a significant impact on safety and security. However, the identification technology itself without well-defined processes that support double-checks, automatic status reports, alert messaging and other means of human error mitigation techniques is not a sufficient prerequisite for handling the variety of exceptions that is necessary to ensure the current levels of requested safety and security measures. The proposed solution for enhanced safety of mining personnel relies on combination of HF and UHF RFID technology used along the typical process of shift change in the mines that enables a fully automated tracking of personnel moving in/out of the mine without generating any additional or unusual demand on the mine personnel.