Strata’s HazardAvert® for surface and underground, has become a leading global brand in proximity detection and collision avoidance. With tried and true electromagnetic technology, the system currently operates in hundreds of mines around the world.

Workers wear Personal Alarm Devices (PADs) that function as receivers, and machinery is outfitted with system Generators. Generators create electromagnetic fields around the machinery, which are in turn detected by the PADs. Any PAD breaching the fields of any machine will trigger system alarms.

In recent upgrades to Strata’s underground coal mining system, generators now have a smaller, more compact enclosure, and their capabilities has been expanded. Each generator both creates and detects electromagnetic fields, giving them dual function to establish machine-to-machine collision avoidance. Two vehicles traveling underground will detect each other and the system will proactively prevent collisions. No direct line of sight is required, and equipment will be detected around corners.

DISPLAY SCREEN

Traditionally, the HazardAvert coal system utilises a Tracking Display POD as the user interface in the operator’s compartment. LED lights represent the system status, and active alarms and an internal memory stores all activities and events. A robust, intrinsically safe display screen, with a graphical user interface and visual alarms, has now been incorporated into the design. The unit provides easy-to-read system status updates, visible warning alerts and includes a memory for storing event data as well as user inputs.

PERSONAL ALARM DEVICE (PAD)

Strata redesigned and improved the quality of the belt-worn PAD, also known as the TPL, in 2017 and upgraded its functionality. By incorporating StrataConnect Wireless tracking technology, the PADs provide location tracking for individuals. For mines equipped with the StrataConnect Wireless network, they not only can remotely retrieve proximity detection data from machines underground but can also track the location and monitor the safety of personnel. 

REACTS WHEN PEOPLE DON’T.

Perhaps the most beneficial capability of the electromagnetic HazardAvert system is its ability to interface to the host equipment to safely establish autonomous control. Working with the mine and the machinery OEM, HazardAvert can be programmed to automatically slow the speed of machinery or provide emergency stopping without direct user input.

Since HazardAvert’s development, the ability to program automatic slowing and stopping to prevent contact with a person has always been a standard capability. Today, with the recent upgrades to the coal mining system, the capability has been extended to include machine-to-machine proximity detection, which enables automatic slowing and stopping to prevent collisions between machinery.

 In underground environments, this capability ensures the highest level of personnel safety. With inherent factors such as low visibility, confined work areas, physical barriers and the heavy presence of mobile machinery working alongside people-on-foot, the ability to automatically stop or disable machinery in an emergency could be critical. When equipment has been automatically slowed or stopped, it will only resume full operation once the breach to its field has been resolved. This safety measure forces workers to recognize the parameters of safer working areas and will subsequently train them to remain in safer positions while working.

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For more information, visit our website at strataworldwide.com or email us at info@strata-safety.co.za. Call us at +27-(0)12-450-0960