TECHNOLOGY
L
egislation for the mandatory use of
pedestrian detection systems (PDS)
on trackless mobile machinery
(TMM) was promulgated by South
Africa’s mining regulator, the Department
of Mineral Resources (DMR) in February
2015, with an implementation deadline for
surface mines of June 2019. As the deadline
draws near, vehicle original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs), quarry operators
and PDS suppliers are working together
to ensure that the systems are ready for
rollout, and some quarries are already
beginning to run trials of various systems.
There are still many issues to be ironed
out at this stage, including inconsistent
activation of the notification systems when
vehicles move into range. Another pressing
issue concerns training and implementation
of the systems. The most difficult aspect
of introducing any new technology to the
market is always buy-in and adoption,
or getting people to actually use the
technology, and to do so properly.
But before any of this, the first step in
the process is to conduct a proper risk
assessment. The legislation stipulates that
PDS and collision avoidance systems
(CAS) need only be implemented where
‘significant risk’ exists. And this significant
risk will differ from site to site. While
industry body Aspasa has worked together
with its members to create a base industry
risk assessment document, this needs to
be amended for each specific site, as each
will have slightly different identified risks
depending on their layout and operation.
Chapter 8 of the Mines Health and
Safety Act (MHSA), which covers PDS
legislation, deals with four industry
categories: underground electric machines;
underground diesel equipment; surface
QUARRY SA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 _ 15