CAS & FATIGUE
Safety tech ecosystems
Technologies like collision avoidance, fatigue monitoring and fleet management are no longer being seen in isolation, but as part of an integrated ecosystem, reports Paul Moore
There are big changes in how mines are looking at safety related technologies like collision avoidance and fatigue monitoring – while these systems up until now have largely operated as distinct and separate solutions; the industry has woken up to the power of integration of these types of technologies. That power is in the data – things like being able to cross reference a collision system related near miss incident and alarm with driver fatigue levels; and being able to potentially look at video footage, while also assessing from the fleet management system if it occurred in an accident hotspot such as a narrow section of haul road or complex junction. The major players in these technologies are bringing them together as part of an ecosystem – and ultimately, FMS, CAS and fatigue related systems are likely to be running off one main piece of onboard hardware with one in-cab operator screen. This article looks at how this evolution is happening, plus the potential of AI in analysing the combined data; and how it might further the development of mixed autonomous and manned fleets.
South Africa – still setting standards for a global CAS approach
However, as we have done in previous years, we start with the South African market situation – which in terms of collision avoidance and awareness technologies is still where the world looks to – as it remains the most advanced region in their adoption, regulation and arguably their certification and interpretation – all ultimately driven by the fact that South Africa’ s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy( DMRE) in
late 2022 brought into law the Chapter 8 clauses of the Mine Health and Safety Act Regulations relating to vehicle intervention for collision avoidance in trackless mobile machinery, both surface and underground. But the inclusion of the clauses themselves actually dates back to 2015.
IM once again spoke to Kobus Blomerus, Traffic Management Specialist at SECDI, who has played a major role in the Minerals Council South Africa’ s Industry Alignment on TMM Regulations Project. He says that Collision Prevention System( CPS) progress in South Africa accelerated in 2025.“ Product independent verification testing by the University of Pretoria Vehicle Dynamics Group showed a further 40 % improvement by number compared to end-2024. Many CxD and third party TMM CPS product suppliers have passed the first three of five product tests. A few suppliers have done the more challenging tests and whilst not passing all of the tests, very good progress has been made.”
He adds:“ If doubt existed whether the regulatory requirement for the technology would prove too challenging for the industry, with the progress made in 2025, that tipping point was reached. Due to slow progress of international TMM OEM product conformance and the regulatory pressure on mines a number of mines opted for third party products. Naturally this comes with more complexity from a liability perspective, however with it also comes with the benefit that once the 3rd party products passed the first four product tests, only the controller tests are to be done on the TMM itself and many of the 3rd party controller products is designed with improved configurability.”
Blomerus continued that whilst regulatory
Epiroc’ s Titan CAS combines multiple fail-tosafe sensing technologies, it says tailored to excel in dynamic mining environments
pressure continued throughout 2025 there are some of the regulatory regions that acknowledge the complexity of the technology and closely follow the testing progress as an indication of readiness of products to fully conform to specifications that will enable mines to comply with the regulations.“ Unfortunately, limited testing capacity remains a challenge and is becoming more of a bottle neck as more products pass the initial tests. It is encouraging to see a few new products are entering the market, that will increase competition as well as capacity for the industry at large.”
With a number of mines experiencing significant challenges with CAS L9 products introduced to their operations that were not independently tested and with the unique requirements for CAS L9 products in South Africa initially resisted, he also argues that CPS products are slowly becoming the gold standard for CAS L9 products, as mines and suppliers see the benefits of these requirements playing out in operations.
“ With products still maturing the focus will remain on testing, however the focus will shift towards the harmonisation of the technology into the existing operational systems. This in itself is a challenge due to these operational systems having their own regulatory requirements that needs to be realigned. In conclusion, as a major disruptor, the introduction of CPS in South African mines is in many ways a catalyst for progress towards digital mining.”
On the topic of testing, IM also spoke to Herman Hamersma, Associate Professor
International Mining | JANUARY 2026 65