FATIGUE MONITORING
Building a culture of safety with Wenco SmartCap
In today ’ s mining industry , ensuring worker safety goes beyond meeting compliance standards and regulations . It involves creating a- comprehensive safety culture that prioritises the well-being of employees at every level . Wenco says its SmartCap can be the key into a holistic approach by providing actionable insights and fostering a proactive safety culture .
Through real-time alerts , Wenco ’ s SmartCap helps workers to recognise when fatigue may be impairing their ability to work safely , empowering them to take proactive steps , such as taking a break , adjusting work schedules , or communicating with supervisors . This proactive approach is a crucial component of a holistic safety program , ensuring that fatigue is managed effectively to prevent fatigue-related incidents before they occur , fostering a culture of safety .
SmartCap ’ s real-time fatigue monitoring capabilities provide valuable data insights that can be integrated with existing safety procedures . The actionable data allows a comprehensive view of worker well-being to ensure companies can make data-driven decisions to continuously improve their safety protocols .
Wenco offers ongoing training and support to ensure its customers can maximise the benefits of SmartCap within their safety framework . This includes educating workers on the importance of fatigue management , guiding them on the usage of the tools , and how it fits into their overall safety protocols . Continuous support ensures that the system is used to its full potential , contributing to a safer work environment .
activity itself creates a safer and more aware operator . The operator can also see a history of risk warnings during their shift to help them selfmanage their risk .
Monitoring staff access the real-time drowsiness the real-time drowsiness levels of their entire fleet , anywhere in the world , via the Optalert Individual Risk Indicator System ( IRIS ). Displayed in a web-browser , the IRIS shows the risk level for individual employees and allows managers to keep a top level view of their fleet , or drill down to assess more in-depth patterns .
Optalert says there is one very simple way to determine if a drowsiness detection system is accurate . An accurate system will not respond to somebody who is theatrically play-acting being drowsy . “ If you perform a hands-on test with a system , try yawning or play-acting being drowsy . If it sounds an alert , it is flawed . A sober person cannot pretend to be drunk and blow 0.05 % into a breathalyser . An alert person cannot do a theatrical performance of drowsiness and be classified as impaired by the objective JDS .”
Inaccurate impairment detection systems cost mine sites millions . An inaccurate system always exhibits problems with usability in the field . It annoys drivers , unnecessarily disrupts operations , erodes trust , and distracts drivers . Every time a system sounds an unnecessary false alert , employees waste time responding , drivers lose trust in safety processes on-site , and in many cases , an unimpaired driver stops working , reducing productivity .
Zubrinich : “ When mine managers compare products and opt for cheap fatigue detection
Wenco says SmartCap can be the key into a holistic approach by providing actionable insights and fostering a proactive safety culture
solutions , they make a grave mistake . These technologies incur a hidden cost . On top of their minimal impact on improving safety , they inevitably drive down production yields on-site due to all the disruptions to operations from false alerts . Optalert ’ s technology is the lowestcost solution because it drives the greatest risk reduction without unnecessary disruptions to the core job being done .”
Customers that implement Optalert ’ s drowsiness prevention system on-site can also opt for its sleep disorder screening test as an optional add-on . It does not involve any disruption to day-to-day operations , as it involves passively monitoring the fleet of drivers over a period of weeks . Both its real-time drowsiness prevention and its longitudinal sleep disorder screening utilise the same eyelid movement data from its system .
Zubrinich comments : “ At the end of the process , the site manager receives a report on the drivers most at risk of a sleep disorder . They can then be encouraged to seek medical diagnosis and treatment . In its past screenings , Optalert has directed many drivers to undergo diagnosis and treatment for sleep disorders , resulting in a healthier , more vigilant , and more productive workforce .”
To collect data for its new model , Optalert collaborated with three leading sleep laboratories : Monash Medical Centre , the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute , and the Institute for Breathing and Sleep ( IBAS ). All participants with obstructive sleep apnoea ( OSA ) had this confirmed by polysomnography in a
sleep laboratory , the gold standard for diagnosis . Optalert ’ s algorithm processes eyelid movements to generate a prediction of the likelihood of a participant having a sleep disorder . With a cited 96.6 % accuracy , it says it outperforms both leading smartwatch offerings in the market .
But how prevalent are sleep disorders on mine sites ? Optalert says in the typical fleet , 15-30 % of drivers have an undiagnosed sleep disorder . Every day , this costs hours of productivity and increases the risk of an accident . “ The most prevalent sleep condition is OSA . This involves difficulties in breathing during sleep and reduced oxygen levels . The driver then suffers from constant brain fog , difficulty concentrating , and feeling tired all the time . They also present a greater risk of making mistakes in their job . When the issue is addressed , the workplace benefits from improved health and well-being , in turn driving better safety outcomes . Mine managers can sleep tight knowing their workers are too .”
Optalert ’ s mantra for this technological breakthrough is simple - identify the problem in weeks . Improve operations for years .
Fatigue Science hails breakthrough solution for underground
Fatigue management technology is becoming an industry standard for surface-level mine operations . However , it is rarely used underground . Fatigue Science argues that this is because an underground environment lacks the connectivity typically required for fatigue management solutions .
However , the Readi fatigue risk management system from Fatigue Science it says offers an innovative solution by providing predictive fatigue scores for each underground operator without the need for connectivity . “ This makes Readi the only viable approach to fatigue management for underground mining , where continuous monitoring is essential , and other fatigue technologies are impossible or impractical to implement .”
An underground mine in Mexico , specifically , does not allow the use of invasive cameras underground , a sentiment validated by the workforce and union leadership . For this reason , and because they lacked connectivity , they needed a fatigue management system that prioritised privacy and practicality in an underground setting . Readi meets these needs , positioning it as the only solution that can ensure workers aren ’ t sent underground when they pose a safety risk due to fatigue , even without realtime internet access .
Currently , 153 workers at the mine use ReadiWatches to track their sleep . A centralised Control Center manages the mine ’ s operations
36 International Mining | JANUARY 2025