TECHNOLOGY
a PDS, but Pienaar points out that if
steps one to six (including the traffic
management plan) are done and the risk
is mitigated (as in diamond mines), then
it may be that the mine does not need
to install PDS in its vehicles. “However,
companies that are going to need to
implement PDS should at least be at level
seven by now: operator awareness.”
Challenges
Pienaar lists a number of challenges
facing the process:
• The danger of a fitted PDS, says
Pienaar, is that in the event of an
accident, there will doubtless be a
court case, with the OEM alleging
that the PDS supplier interfered with
its systems, and the supplier blaming
the OEM.
• There may also be arguments
regarding the data connection, as
the system relies on mobile telecoms
technology.
• A company which already has
vehicles without a PDS system
installed, may not be able to deal with
a single supplier, as it may have a mix
of Bells, Komatsus, and others. A
company would want a single system.
• Some systems involve pedestrians
wearing a wristband with a
transponder that emits a signal.
However, if the pedestrian forgets
to wear the wristband, or a driver
steps out of the vehicle and is
not protected, there has to be a
preventative system — this is part of
the risk assessment.
• It takes time to install these devices,
and if a quarry receives a section
54 notice, they cannot simply call
in a supplier to immediately do the
installation. “Wake up now,” urges
Pienaar, “because you’re not going to
make it if you leave it to 2020.”
• Aspasa is not aware of any supplier
already fitting level 9 PDS — all are
in the testing stage and are already
running behind schedule.
• The quality of risk assessments and
traffic management plans may be
disputed, but if they do not exist,
a quarry can already be served a
section 54 notice — and some have.
Booyco leads the way locally
One of the leading local PDS suppliers,
active in the market since the first
generation of PDS in 2006, is Booyco
Electronics. It has in excess of 50 000 PDS
24_QUARRY SA| MARCH/APRIL 2019
“The process is not as
complicated as it may
seem. Aspasa has a road
map which simply has
to be followed, and this
map is all about ‘doing
the basics’.”
Nico Pienaar, Aspasa
installations to date — though not all
level 9, which is being implemented.
Anton Lourens, managing director of
Booyco Electronics, says: “One of the
things we’re really pleased about was
the establishment of various working
committees through the Minerals
Council, which has defined the process.
That process is based on work done
by the Earthmoving Equipment Safety
Round Tale (EMESRT), an organisation
formed some decades ago by the mining
houses, with no regulators or suppliers
involved, to develop a ‘best practices’
model. Levels 1–6 are administrative and
engineering controls, up to a point where
there is a trained, confident, licensed,
and medically fit operator, and levels 7–9
being a comprehensive PDS culminating
in stopping the vehicle should it be
necessary.
“This model ascertained that if a
PDS model was developed for the
global mining industry, then 80–90%
of accidents and fatality risks would be
averted. In South Africa, this model was
adopted by the Minerals Council and a
working committee appointed, which now
includes the DMR, to tailor the system to
South Africa.” With the amendment to the
Mining Health & Safety Act, this has now
become law through the promulgation
of Chapter 8, which relates to PDS and
TMM.
“It is very much a risk assessment
process to identify significant risk, and to
then address that risk through what could
be a PDS solution or various other options
such as a traffic management solution.
Companies have until December 2020 to
comply with this provision of the Act.”
Lourens says he has spent considerable
time — and tens of millions of rands
— on R&D and product development,
studying existing fit-for-purpose systems
and tailoring one to South Africa. One
of the misperceptions in the industry is
that PDS itself will stop a vehicle. Lourens
advises this is not the case: “PDS detects a
potential threat and gives that information
to the OEM through a defined interface
and protocol, and it is the OEM’s
responsibility to act accordingly through
our control systems.”
There is a communication interface
protocol ISO 21815 that deals with this
interaction, whereby for example the
OEM acknowledges it has received a
threat warning. This protocol means
that any PDS system can talk to any
OEM across the world. There is a display
monitor in the cab of each vehicle to
which the PDS sends a message to the
operator (level 7) or applies the brake
(level 9). This is all recorded in the case of
an incident (where there has been a failure
of the system) to determine where the
fault lies.
The challenge for most OEMs is that
mining in South Africa is a small part of
their global business, with consequent
mixed responses by them: some are
developing their interface quickly and
others more slowly. Bell Equipment is
the most advanced, says Lourens. “We
expect that with Bell we will have our
first surface customer where we can do
a full intervention effectively. One of the
challenges is that in South Africa, the
approach to plant and equipment is that
of a ‘Smarties box’, with a mix of different
TMM equipment requirement on any one
site.”
Most OEMs are not developing their
own PDS, Lourens clarifies, but their own
interface. Because OEMs are hesitant to
have external systems interfere with their
proprietary systems, Lourens explains that
many are going the route of interpreting
a parallel interface system on top of their
proprietary systems and then using a
gateway to migrate the data internally. All
vehicles currently being bought should
come equipped with such a capability for
a third-party interface.
“By the time these systems are
implemented successfully in mines, we
have heard that it will be applied to other
industries such as construction, forestry,
farming, and more,” says Lourens.
Key aspect of the design:
testing
Booyco undertakes considerable internal
testing for proof of concept and design,
thereafter engaging with external testing
company Gerotek, which has a testing
ground widely accepted within the
mining industry and by OEMs to test
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