Refuge chambers provide a safe haven for workers if the environment in an underground mine becomes unsafe. If an incident occurs, all workers go to their nearest refuge chamber and a roll call is taken, over radio, to account for everyone. This process can be time consuming and prone to error, potentially delaying rescue efforts.
3na managed a project for a large mining company to implement a card scanning system at underground refuge chambers using electronic card readers. This solution integrated existing cards workers already carried and enabled them to register at a refuge chamber on arrival by scanning their card.
In trials the new system accounted for hundreds of people in a matter of minutes, significantly faster than a roll call process taken over radio. This provides a major improvement for worker safety by rapidly identifying missing people and enabling considerably faster response times.
