Improved Vehicle Control Lifts Safety And Productivity

AUSTRALASIAN SAFETY JOURNAL – JULY 2009

Highly sophisticated training simulators are used by mining companies everywhere to improve equipment operator’s safety and efficiency. The returns in increased productivity quickly outweigh the initial investment.

A mine site is a dangerous place to work. Whether above or below ground, there are constant hazards confronting every person on site, so safety procedures and training are a vital part of daily life in the mining industry. Constantly evolving technology is well and truly at the forefront of every mine’s safety programme with perhaps no better example than simulator training. Australian company, ThoroughTec Simulation, is finding mine operators who use their CYBERMINE training simulators are enjoying significant reductions in equipment accident levels and far less damage and wear and tear. This results in lower costs.

“Case studies have proven experienced operators can develop bad habits which could result in reduced productivity and unnecessary maintenance.”

Subsequently  productivity, efficiency and therefore profitability are all increased.

What exactly is a training simulator?
The CYBERMINE™ Simulator is a completely self-contained system, requiring only a flat surface and external power to be operated.  It is designed for the effective training and evaluation of operators on a range of different surface or underground mining equipment and machinery types.

How will it improve safety?
On the rare occasion where it is possible to dedicate an actual piece of equipment on site for operator training purposes, accidents can easily occur at enormous cost. CYBERMINE™ Simulators remove the need to use actual equipment.

When a mobile plant operator undergoes simulator training, an instructor is always present within the simulator. So all sorts of ‘simulated’ emergency situations – such as engine fire, brake failure, objects in the machine’s pathway, mine personnel in places they shouldn’t be, other equipment on a collision course, etc – can be set up to educate the operator on how to best react to and control each situation. This is simply not possible at the actual mine site for many practical reasons.

It’s not just novice operators who improve their safety levels while undergoing simulator training.

Case studies have proven experienced operators can develop bad habits which could result in reduced productivity and unnecessary maintenance. Under the watchful eye of the CYBERMINE™ reporting software, these habits can be identified and  stopped. As a result, experienced operators as well as new trainees will be far safer people to have on site. Almost any minor accident will cause a stoppage on site, resulting in many valuable working hours lost through poor safety levels.

As one of the seven largest open cast mines in the world, Sishen Mine (South Africa) was experiencing high collision rates between the haul trucks and the overhead pantograph system – around sixteen per month. Within six months of extensive use of simulator based training of their haul truck operators, this figure was reduced to less than one a month. An even greater reduction in costs due to the reduced incidence of runaway trucks was reported subsequent to the introduction of simulator based training at the mine.

How does productivity increase?
As well as raising safety awareness, simulator training also improves operator efficiency. This results in much more productive operation of their equipment and therefore the overall productivity and profitability of the mine.

Operators trained on simulators definitely have fewer accidents. This means less maintenance and repairs to the machine and any other equipment and property that may be damaged. It is well known that the repair and maintenance of mobile mining equipment is very, very expensive, without factoring in the cost of equipment downtime.

Another productivity benefit following simulator training comes from improved performance in machine function cycles. For example, an excavator training simulator will teach operators how to improve their ‘dig’ (pick up more material in the bucket); their ‘swing’ (get the load to the truck efficiently); their ‘dump’ (release the load effectively); and their ‘return’ (get the bucket ready for the next cycle). Over several days this could result in many thousands of dollars increase in revenue on the bottom line for the mine owner.

And remember, a training simulator removes the need to use a real machine for training and significantly reduces operator training times. This saves using valuable working machines for training purposes, which lowers their contribution to overall productivity.

Do all simulators provide the same safety and productivity benefits?
ThoroughTec Simulation has been designing and developing high fidelity simulation systems for over 20 years.

Initially, strong interest was generated in haul truck, shovel and excavator simulators, where concerns over safety and low productivity levels motivated miners and contractors to seek new and effective methods of improving both. Over the years, ThoroughTec’s CYBERMINE™ range of surface simulators has been expanded to include wheeled and tracked dozers, drill rigs, loaders, draglines and articulated dump trucks. ThoroughTec’s underground range of CYBERMINE™ simulators is the only one of its kind and currently includes single and dual boom drill rigs, bolters, boggers, ADT’s, dozers and locomotives. ThoroughTec, who have an established presence in Australia, is the largest supplier of both surface and below ground simulator products in the world.