Australasian Mine Safety

Australasian Mine Safety Summer 2011-12

Australasian Mine Safety is the leading voice for all key decision makers within Mining company's and major contractors. Delivering the latest industry news as it breaks.

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140 The Australasian Mine Safety Journal Summer 2011/12 Products and services banner UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTIONS What you need to know before sourcing safety and communication solutions for confi ned spaces Given the importance of safety and communication solutions for a mine or tunnell, it's important to look for a supplier with a long track record and extensive experience in a wide variety of mining and tunnelling applications. I t's also useful to insist on solutions that are customised to meet all your communications and safety needs while meeting or exceeding all industry certifi cations and safety standards. Here are some additional tips: 1. High-speed data connectivity Implement a communications solution that provides high speed internet services between surface and underground via leaky feeder cable technology. That means you will be able to use both VHF portable radios and Voice over IP handsets. You should also make sure that your solution allows for "hot spots" to be deployed strategically anywhere a leaky feeder cable is installed. 2. Precise and reliable airfl ow monitoring Install air fl ow sensors that monitor the air fl ow through a complete drift cross section. This technology virtually eliminates the errors associated with turbulent fl ow near the sensor. 3. Exceed safety standards Create extra layers of safety for operators by installing multi-level asset location and personnel warning technologies that are engineered specifi cally to exceed the standards for safety in the mining and tunnelling industries. 4. Collision prevention Look for a system that not only provides a visual and or audible alarm to notify the operator or personnel of impending danger, but also stores this information in a database, where it can be accessed and analysed by management. 5. Cost-effective and certifi ed If you need a cost-effective solution to facilitate information exchange over leaky feeder, ensure that it meets the stringent certifi cation standards for Hazardous and Non-Hazardous environments around the world. 6. It pays to get a total solution A patchwork of communications and safety solutions from different suppliers is never as effective as a single system that provides location and detection, asset monitoring, collision prevention, air quality control or trapped miner search solutions from a single supplier. 7. Make it simple for operators Ease of installation, operation, maintenance should be key criteria when buying an underground voice, video and data communications systems. 8. Two-way communication is vital Two way data communication is important because it allows operators to monitor and control various confi gurations of generic PLC and custom application RTU equipment. Your solution should support master slave or peer to peer operation. In addition, video channels should provide one way real time video transmission from a remote camera to a video monitor, and the camera should have a complete range of controls, including zoom, pan, tilt; one data channel is required. 9. Easy integration with existing leaky feeder backbone Save money and time by selecting safety solutions that can be integrated effortlessly into any existing leaky feeder communication backbone to establish advanced tracking, location and search application for mines and tunnels. 10. Tunnell operations require tunnell communications and safety solutions Ensure that any safety or communications system you buy for a tunnell construction project or an operating tunnell includes two way VHF, UHF and Ethernet solutions for voice, data and video, and that anything you buy is compliant with relevant Tunnelling Industry Standards and Requirements. 11. Easy upgrades or expansions Since it's inevitable that your communication and safety system needs are going to evolve over time, ensure you have equipment and technology that your operators can effortlessly upgrade or expand. 12. After sale support is vital It's important to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the supplier of your communications and safety solutions has a team of Communication specialists, technicians and engineers available to answer all solution and application questions. Courtesy of Mine Radio Systems (MRS). With 25+ years track record and over 400 installations at mining and tunnelling sites in over 50 countries, MRS is a leading supplier of advanced communication solutions engineered to improve effi ciency, safety and productivity in confi ned spaces. To learn more, visit www.mineradio.com

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