TECHNOLOGY
Anton Lourens, managing director of
Booyco Electronics.
www.quarryonline.co.za
their braking systems. The Minerals Council
has also put a process in place through
UP, which has a division called Vehicle
Dynamics Group that has developed a
simulation model to test various scenarios.
“This gives us an independent third-party
report, which will determine whether the
system meets expectations,” says Lourens.
Testing is still under way.
It is this report which will determine
whether a system is compliant. A few years
ago, there were as many as 40 PDS suppliers;
a number which has now been whittled
down “quite drastically to five or six big
players, including international companies”,
says Lourens, as companies have come to
understand the complexity of the system,
and the financial investment required.
A key component of testing is tailoring
the system to local conditions. Lourens says
Booyco’s 12 years’ experience has been vital
in this regard — but there have been false
dawns. “One of the local idiosyncrasies is
that we are a more labour-intensive mining
industry than most markets, and familiarity
with this has been one of our competitive
advantages.”
Conclusion
Lourens posts a caution to a quarry
industry that is already under cost pressure:
“There are people marketing complex and
expensive systems, telling quarry owners
they need to implement PDS as a silver
bullet. Whereas the biggest issue facing
quarries is the lack of education regarding
the PDS. Aspasa is hosting workshops
throughout the country to educate quarry
owners on what the Act says and what
technology is available. They need to realise
that PDS is not a silver bullet but part of a
broader risk-assessment-based methodology
in which you can in fact address a lot of
safety risks without PDS. It should be your
last resort.”
Booyco is an example of how hard
the suppliers have worked. Pienaar says
a number of firms, including Aspasa
members, have also done advanced work,
and there are others who could be at the
same level. He adds that 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’,”
says Pienaar.
QUARRY SA | MARCH/APRIL 2019_25