Safety has always been a hot topic in the mining industry and over the years, there has been increased industry focus on safety around mining equipment and the elimination of live work. Safety at work is the number one priority for Mantrac, especially for our technicians and engineers, but there are always ways to improve.

Eliminating live work 


The mining industry itself comes with occupational risks – anything from the risk of fire and flooding to quarry collapses and poor air quality. And with an increasing number of accidents and other related problems, the spotlight is on. 
However, occupational risks can be managed with monitoring and equipment maintenance, so we must work hard to ensure it’s safe for all involved.  
Thankfully, with the continuous development of new technologies, we’re able to ensure our teams return home safe and sound. Caterpillar has already implemented more than 60 Elimination of Live Work (ELW)-related CPI projects including rewriting maintenance literature, creating new instructions and leveraging new tooling and technology so we can be fully prepared going into a service.  
We refer to live work as maintenance and repair tasks that require the machine to be energized and the technician to work within the footprint of the machine (cab excluded). 
Mike Howarth, Group Health and Safety Manager, explained: “Three of our 10 lifesaving rules are: ‘Entanglement in Machinery’, ‘Exposure to High Voltages’, and prevention of injury through ‘Uncontrolled Release of Energy’.” 

The risks to these hazards are controlled through a process known as ‘Lock Out & Tag Out’ that physically prevents a machine under maintenance being carelessly started. 
“However, there are times when it is necessary to have the machine running known as ‘Live Working’ to take measurements for condition monitoring purposes, which exposes our service technicians to risks of serious injury,” he added. 


Taking a step back 


Perhaps one of the biggest impacts to the safety of our technicians and engineers are the clever ways of putting a technician away from the footprints of the machine whilst carrying out a service.  
As an example, Mantrac Egypt has purchased electronic indicators to check the truck steering systems, fabricated longer jumper wires to check torque converter clutch pressures from the cab and added wireless cameras to toolboxes. The possibilities are endless. 
Meanwhile, Mantrac Ghana has completed training and roll-out of the group’s Lock Out Tag Out Try Out (LOTOTO) procedure. With this, our team of skilled mechanics are protected whilst working on our customer’s isolated equipment. On top of that, Mantrac Ghana has created ‘Danger Tags’ to ensure each padlock owner can easily be identified and our customers know why it’s on the machine.  
While Mantrac and Caterpillar finds solutions for existing situations and designs new products with an ELW mindset going forward, we all have a role to play in the implementation of safer practices.