Working in a mine, underground or on surface, is physically demanding. Dust, heat, limited visibility, working in confined spaces, and many other factors can really place a strain on operations personnel, leading to fatigue and loss of alertness.
This is especially dangerous when it affects those who operate heavy machinery. A loss of concentration, even for a few seconds, can easily lead to an accident, placing the operator and any other workers who are nearby in danger, and leading to costly equipment damage and lost productivity.
The mining industry has been working with fatigue-monitoring systems for some time; however, the majority of these systems are at best ‘reactive’ and at worst simply a nuisance. Waiting for an operator’s eyes to close before sounding an alarm to wake them up is simply too late! And, annoying them awake with random buzzers and inputs is, well, just that — annoying. Ineffective fatigue management does not help to keep a mine safe and can have disastrous consequences.
A far better solution for improving operator alertness is Life by SmartCap, the world’s most effective fatigue monitoring solution, developed specifically to overcome the limitations of other fatigue monitoring technologies. By truly monitoring an operator’s alertness levels, the Life solution can actually predict a “microsleep” and prevent fatigue-related incidents from happening at all. Imagine eliminating fatigue from your operation completely. That’s a safe mine.
Some of the many benefits to using Life by SmartCap are:
- Incidents caused by fatigue are eliminated thanks to the proactive, real-time monitoring of operator alertness and both eyes-closed and eyes-open microsleeps.
- Operators are empowered to monitor their own alertness levels using the convenient and comfortable LifeBand and LifeApp, leading to better overall mine safety awareness.
- Productivity is improved because an alert operator is a more effective operator; studies have shown time and again that improved alertness results in improved performance.
Life by SmartCap is the ONLY proactive alertness level monitor currently on the market. The system requires minimal infrastructure and in-cab equipment, and uses no privacy-compromising cameras, which are generally despised by operators. The solution identifies and helps to eliminate the real risk of fatigue – improving mine safety, increasing overall safety awareness and minimising incidental damage caused by poor operator alertness.