Objective
To improve the effectiveness and reliability of vehicle interaction improvements in mining.
ICMM member data.
Improving vehicle interaction operational effectiveness in the mining industry is a complex challenge at the company and operating site level. There is an ongoing effort to improve operating approaches, including implementing technology solutions, particularly in reactive circumstances.
Each year, between 30-40% of industry fatalities are attributable to failures of vehicle interaction controls, and of these, about half involve pedestrians, mostly in underground operations.
The industry, including regulators, continues to see a high number of unwanted vehicle interaction incidents with a high potential for fatalities and serious injuries. This, combined with the complexity and uncertainty of outcomes from existing technology, the rapid development of options, and interoperability concerns, meant an industry-user-driven response was needed.
EMESRT has been working on the Vehicle Interaction (VI) topic since 2013. The EMESRT methodology is to focus deeply on defining the problem, getting a common understanding with a large group of stakeholders, then go to the designers and provide a common view of the problem with the intent that designers see it as a business opportunity in providing solutions to all or part of the problem.
EMESRT first turned its attention to vehicle interaction in 2007 when it published Design Philosophy 5 (DP-5), focusing on machine operation controls.
DP-5 objective is to prevent harm, during machine operation and control, to as low as reasonably practical, including consideration in design for foreseeable human error.
This EMESRT industry project builds on the indicative design problem information in DP-5 and is a more definitive extension of the original work carried out in developing the design philosophy.
The Technical Working Group (TWG) members are actively involved in the project and provide their time, expertise, knowledge and experience to EMESRT on a volunteer basis. They contribute to monthly meetings, webinars, workshops, one-on-one discussions, and the development of industry resources. The EMESRT advisory group members appreciate and acknowledge their contribution.
The project leads provide strategic direction to the vehicle interaction control improvement TWG, which consists of a broad range of industry stakeholders.
The effectiveness of these interactions plays a pivotal role in determining safety, asset integrity, efficiency, and productivity levels. Each element influences the other, creating a complex, interconnected environment.
EMESRT has identified industry-level opportunities:
Mining industry fatality experience tells us that no organisation has reliably sustained vehicle interaction management. Since its formation, EMESRT has led and participated in industry-level initiatives with the common goal of improving the effectiveness and reliability of vehicle interaction controls in mining.
In 2016, EMESRT realised that vehicle interaction is a highly dynamic and complex topic due to the high level of human factor control aspects and that the potential solutions are quite diverse because of the different environments. EMESRT needed to expand its reach and the volume of aligned users to better influence designers. Understanding and implementing collision avoidance system technology projects is complex.
In 2017, EMESRT approached the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM) and in 2018, EMESRT and ICMM formed an industry partnership.
The initiative brings together company members, original equipment manufacturers, and technology suppliers in a non-competitive space to mobilise the investment needed to accelerate the development of a new generation of mining vehicles.
This Leading Sites initiative aims to improve the mining industry’s vehicle interaction performance. Notably, it seeks to improve safety through collaboration and the sharing of leading practices. It’s a pivotal tool for driving continuous vehicle interaction control improvement in the mining industry
One significant aspect of the ICMM Leading Sites initiative is its partnership with EMESRT.’
The initiative provides a platform for transparent and meaningful two-way dialogue between mining companies, OEM’s and technology providers. This dialogue helps identify and address equipment related hazards.
A key platform of the Leading Sites initiative is the Capable Solution definition, which sets out three key principles of a VI improvement program.
In late 2021 and throughout 2022, a broadreaching strategy was established through a series of consultative engagements.
In October 2022, ICMM/EMESRT brought mining users, OEM’s, third-party technology providers, researchers, and other industry experts together. This initial four-day workshop had 77+ participants who reviewed and tested the validity of the package of vehicle interaction improvement resource materials developed, which start with a way to look at underlying operational effectiveness as part of the ecosystem that technology integrates into.
This is where all the knowledge resources related to the Vehicle Interaction Improvement program developed by EMESRT were introduced to users through a practical workshop. The challenge for the stakeholder group was to determine the relevance of the materials to address the problems and provide feedback on enhancements to those materials. The resounding output from participants was that the material is a very useful piece of work, or piece of information, that will allow the industry to move forward on its improvement goals. The basis for the Leading Sites program was established following the endorsement of the resource materials.
Figure: ICMM ICSV VI leading sites program capable solution definition.
The objective is to prevent a person or vehicle causing a potential unwanted event in the following three categories resulting in injury or equipment damage:
These are depicted in context in the EMESRT Vehicle Interaction 9-Layers of Defence model on the left.
Vehicle interaction improvement project relevance: