At mines, security is about people
By Neil Cameron, Johnson Controls Area General Manager, Building Efficiency – Africa
In the mining sector, security is increasingly complex. High value assets, sensitive equipment and a hazardous work environment make meeting workplace rules and policy requirements pivotal to safety and security. Advanced access control systems are, surprisingly, providing many of the workforce management controls needed.
Mines have large multifaceted workforces. In addition to their large core workforce that provides physical labour at the mine face, economic realities are compelling mines to make greater use of contractors to manage specialised and non-core tasks. To manage the resulting complexity, mines are turning to technology.
Johnson Controls’ access control solution is in use at over a dozen mines in South Africa and Africa. It is an advanced platform that is continually being enhanced. However, what makes it so useful to mines is its ability to integrate with other systems, its configurability and its ability to raise flags. These features together provide significant value.
In mines, safety is a priority. This makes strong access control capabilities non-negotiable. While it’s easy enough to record the entry of individuals, access control solutions must today also be capable of supporting more sophisticated decisions.
To properly control access and meet security, and health and safety policy requirements, the access control solution needs to be configured to apply certain rules, interrogate live databases and raise alerts. This enables the system to, for example, prohibit blacklisted individuals from entry onto the mine for example, or prohibit entry of personnel into certain areas. However, it also adds other valuable controls.
For example, mine policies may:
- Require that workers attend induction sessions at regular intervals to ensure awareness of policy and other work-related issues.
- Put strict limits to the number of hours that an individual can work within a given period, helping to ensure safety for all in hazardous working environments where human error can be deadly.
- Need to control exposure to x-ray searches.
Because it is linked into HR and other live databases, the access control system can immediately deny access to individuals who do not meet requirements. In addition, it provides alerts to the relevant systems and mine authorities, and initiates processes to correct issues. It also helps inform important systems, such as payroll.
Clearly, access control is no longer just a low grade security solution that opens and closes doors; it helps mines enforce rules that are instrumental in ensuring the safety and security of their entire workforce and their operations.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation