Determining proximity warning and action zones for a magnetic proximity detection system

Abstract

Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are developing intelligent software for use with electromagnetic proximity detection systems. The technology accurately locates workers around mining machines in real time. With the accurate locations of the workers around the equipment being known, their safety status can be evaluated. If a worker is located dangerously close to a machine, the machine can be partially or completely disabled to protect the worker from striking, pinning and entanglement hazards according to pre-defined logic. The technology is particularly applicable to mobile underground mining machines which offer difficult safety challenges in that operators generally work in close proximity to these machines in very restricted spaces. With use of the intelligent proximity detection system, nuisance alarms and failures to alarm are also expected to be sharply reduced. An effective proximity warning and action zone scheme is necessary for safe implementation and will improve the acceptance of a magnetic proximity detection system by underground workers.