SAFETY - Is it really our TOP Priority ?
SAFETY - Is it really our TOP Priority
If not, let's do it
Although there are no accurate figures, but estimates and statistics suggest that almost 12,000 to 15,000 people loses their life in a year in such accidents worldwide.
While industry experts say the
number of fatalities has decreased considerably since the early 20th Century,
there has been no shortage of tragic mining accidents in recent years. ( ref: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-11533349
)
The news flashes for a couple of
hours on news channels, papers, followed by rescue operations, few suspensions
and putting some inquiry commission for further investigation. But do we really
need another investigation? Or some strong steps to follow the safety norms and
recommendations which may have been provided during prior such investigations.
On one side we are making proud moments
for ourselves and country by establishing milestone in the technological
advancement in all the sectors including space technologies, which is also
being recognized throughout the world, but at the same time on another side, we
are not even able to leverage the existing technologies to provide a better and
safe working environment for workers and the society. That too for the industry
like mining, which is the back bone for the growth and up-liftment of all other industries as well as for human beings.
Being a mining professional and
serving the industry for almost last 13 years across various countries, and
more specifically working on technology side since last more than one year with
Infosys, I couldn't stop myself to
bring and highlight this point again that we have to take some strong decisions
and necessary steps to eliminate such un-wanted incidents, and it is possible
by adopting proper technologies which can ensure the safety measures, which is
doable and need not require any rocket science to implement.
"We have to inherent the safe working practice among ourselves as a
practice & culture and not by force for doing so just for the sake of
records".
Considering the volume of
material handled by mining projects and cost associated with it, loss of a
single shift without operation/production is significant in nature. The occurrence
of such accidents plays significant role in loss of production and revenue. If we
take the example of the above incident, where we lost the life of few workers,
injured many others which off-course can't be measured and re-covered against any cost, but as a fact the project was shut down for a couple of days after the
accident, and it cost millions of dollars. Both such losses could be saved by
just adopting some technologies to ensure safety measures. And the cost
associated with this may be a very negligible fraction comparing the overall
loss. And this is applicable to more or less in all such incidents.
How Technology Can Help?
The technologies which are
readily available for us can play very crucial role for improvising the safety
standards in such working conditions like mining and construction sites, plant
operations etc.
In most of such cases, incidents
can be avoided if the key parameters associated with operational processes
and/or working plans/designs are being monitored properly. Capturing the data in real time or near real time, analyzing the current and historical data for
any specific trends, etc. can help in predicting any failure or unsafe
working conditions well in advance. The technologies like AR/VR, AI, ML, Automation, Image processing, etc. can help in providing early predictions of such unsafe conditions which can save not only
the money, but more importantly the lives of individuals. It is very unfortunate
and hard to believe fact, that people are using technologies for fun and
entertainment like in gaming, film industries, and other such sectors, which
not bad at all, but at the same time unable to leverage the benefits of such technologies
for essential areas where there is a risk to life.
This gives an opportunity to use
the existing matured technologies from one industry segment and leveraging it
for the industries like mining, construction, etc. which are still struggling to
get the benefits out of it. Using the same thought process, it was observed
that Drone based real time or near
real time monitoring can play a crucial role in capturing the required data
and predicting the failure and unsafe conditions well in advance and we can
avoid such accidents as mentioned earlier. The good part is Infosys is already
using this technology in other segments. For example, in the Agriculture
industry Infosys developed a solution for monitoring the Crop health
using Drone, soil sensors & IoT devices, and not only specific clients but the whole industry started getting benefits out of it. The same
concept can be applied for monitoring such mine sites where it is very
difficult to get the required data using manual method which is more time
consuming, unsafe and sometime the area of interest are not even reachable. The Drone can be used for capturing the
required data efficiently and quickly. Which can be transferred to concern
department in real time for further processing and monitoring.
The image captured by Drone,
along with other data generated by sensors and devices like displacement, stress,
pressure, etc. can be used all together for measuring and monitoring any
displacement of rock or structure, development of cracks, fractures, and any
unstable features like wedges, cohesion, pore pressure, toppling, etc. and predicting unsafe working conditions well in advance so that necessary measures
can be taken, which greatly enhances safety and peace of mind on-site.
This
is one of such example where we may need not to re-invent the wheel to solve the
problem, but to use the existing technologies and learning from the good work
done in the past despite of any industry segment, and leveraging the same to solve
the issues. Infosys, which focuses on these aspects and committed to its clients for providing the best of the breed technology solutions to make a
safer, healthier and efficient working environment. Structuring ENCAS (Engineering Consulting and
Architecture Services) group at Infosys, and enabling a fortnightly
connect with industry and domain specific SME's is such a great step taken by ENCAS leadership and senior management.
Where all such critical resources and like-minded people come together and
shares their good experience and work done in their respective domain. This
enables and provides a mechanism for a smooth transition of technological use
cases from one industry to another.
The
same idea and concept can be further explored to have a consortium of various
industries like railway, road, construction, mining, oil and gas, etc.on a regional or national level where people can discuss and share their industry or work specific issues, their possible solution and how the best practices,
technological solution, etc. can be adopted from one industry segment to another for the
overall benefit of the industry, society and ultimately the peoples working
there.
By providing a safe and healthy
working environment, we are not only avoiding such accidents, but also increasing
the efficiency of individuals and the overall process. As quoted earlier,
safety should be in our practice and culture and not to be adopted by force.
The life of each individual is a
gift & valuable, let's allow technology to make it more safe and beautiful.
"Tomorrow: your reward for working safely today."-
Robert Pelton
