Mineworkers must be active partners, not just data subjects

MINING remains a key economic driver worldwide, yet the sector faces major challenges in improving the safety of mineworkers and operational efficiency amidst the growing adoption of technology.

- SA’EED FATAAR, KAREL KRUGER AND ANTON BASSON

MINING is an industry that has long relied on manual labour, and it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, say the writers.

(ITUMELENG ENGLISH Independent Newspapers)

The sector is wrestling with a profound paradox as mines are becoming more automated and connected.

Although the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) provides unprecedented opportunities to digitise mining operations, human beings at the centre of this transition - 450 000 workers in South Africa alone - remain vulnerable. Despite the introduction of “smart” sensors, the mining industry reported over 2 000 injuries and 74 fatalities in 2021.

We marked Workers’ Day on May 1, and now we must confront an uncomfortable truth: while we have digitised our machines, our people are often treated as passive data subjects rather than active partners in safety-critical systems.

Our recent research into the Mineworker Administration Shell (MAS) - a digital integration mechanism to improve the monitoring and coordination of mineworkers in underground mines - highlights a need for a fundamental shift in how we integrate humans into “Smart Mines”.

To improve the safety of mineworkers, we propose moving away from isolated, standalone wearable gadgets toward human-centric technologies through human cyber-physical systems (HCPSs), that is, systems that bring people and technology together to work collaboratively.

Shortfall of standalone safety