Intelligent Machine Guard Monitoring: A Wireless System to Improve Miner Safety

Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are developing an intelligent machine guard monitoring and proximity detection system designed to mitigate machine entanglement and maintenance-related injuries and fatalities prevalent in the mining industry. This experiment was designed to develop a monitoring system consisting of mechanical/magnetic switches and sensor beacons capable of wirelessly transmitting information about a belt conveyor's machine guards to a remote computer. The data transfer was carried out via an off-the-shelf wireless communication system and displayed on a Web-based user interface. Successful operational tests demonstrated the functionality and effectiveness of the system in monitoring guard placement status and remotely identifying the location of any removed guards using each sensor's unique identification number. The integration of wireless safety technologies such as this system is expected to improve the safety of miners by providing additional protections against machine guardingrelated injuries.