Austmine has helped MiX Telematics and Safescape to make connections and to grow their businesses.
Promoting a healthy safety culture is important in a high-risk industry.
Bringing together suppliers, customers and industry, Austmine has an important role in growing the resources sector it supports in both a fiscal and safety capacity.
As Austmine members who offer safety solutions to the mining industry, Safescape and MiX Telematics are both integral suppliers within the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector.
With Safescape providing emergency egress technology for mines, and MiX Telematics offering comprehensive communication and fleet-monitoring equipment, these companies represent a just a fraction of those who are part of the web of connections offered by Austmine.
Safescape is now looking to further expand the breadth of its services, as marketing manager Beau McKenna told Safe to Work.
“We’ve supplied 52,000m of our Safescape Laddertube to 141 mine sites across 24 countries, which is used as a means of egress from an underground mine in the case of an emergency,” McKenna said. “It has been a phenomenal success for us.
“Our Laddertube is designed to be long-lasting and requires significantly less maintenance and support to other metal or wood ladder systems due to the plastic roto-moulded construction of the Laddertube. This means in the case of an emergency they will be just as reliable as the day they were installed.
“That success has allowed us to branch out into other safety products more recently, such as our own electrified mining vehicles.
“We’ve been involved in numerous programs and events through Austmine which have helped to drive our business forward, most recently at the Austmine 2021 Harnessing Intelligence Mining Innovation Conference. That, in addition to the career pathway support, has been invaluable to us.”
Austmine hosts a large number of events and programs designed to increase awareness, connect industry and developers and to spread information about the mining industry.
In addition, those who don’t solely supply to the mining industry but are invaluable to its function are also given the access and growth opportunities, which MiX Telematics and its communication technology represent.
Detailing the work and services it provides to the mining industry, Brodie von Berg, managing director for MiX Telematics Middle East and Australasia, explained the company’s vital role within the resources sector.
“Our technology enables our customers to have in-vehicle systems that can alert drivers in real-time when they exhibit high-risk behaviours, which is invaluable as the feedback promotes better safety habits and driving style through which they can later track their performance,” Von Berg told Safe to Work.
“Additionally, this information feeds back to the drivers and fleet management, so they can identify those high-risk behaviours and areas and seek to improve on those to increase safety outcomes.
“All the information is contained and easily accessible on a management level, so that the overall risk of the fleet and their drivers can be lowered, through extensive driver management and executive engagement on our platform.
“To bring our services to the mining industry, Austmine has been an invaluable asset. We’ve always had mining customers, but Austmine has exposed us to a much wider range of connections that we previously wouldn’t have known about.
“But the real benefit is that because we are connected to much more of the mining industry than we previously were, it enables us to collect greater feedback from the mining community on the challenges and the problems which they are trying to address.”
Austmine has more than 650 member companies across Australia and is committed to building partnerships, promoting innovation and distributing information within all facets of the mining industry.
Giving a platform to companies to share their products and services through events such as the Austmine 2023 International Conference and Exhibition, 9 – 11 May, Adelaide is integral to growing and maintaining the safety culture within the mining industry.
“Driving is inherently a high-risk activity, a risk that increases with how much you drive and where you are driving, whether over a predictable environment or somewhere with a lot of difficult terrain to navigate,” Von Berg said.
“Our technology enables workers to drive more safely in the field and for management to optimise and review information to ultimately reduce time spent driving, which reduces the exposure to that risk.”
McKenna said Safescape has also seen significant benefits from its relationship with Austmine.
“We’re continually looking to expand our range of safety solutions and Austmine have been able to facilitate that,” he said.
“Being able to roll out our LadderTube to more mines that need a reliable emergency solution and starting development on the electrification of Australian-made vehicles that are designed for the mining industry will increase safety and sustainability outcomes.”