Company Cuts Costly Vehicle Collisions In Half

Another very interesting Application Note by PRECO Electronics

The good news at Imerys S.A.’s open pit mine in Lompoc, California, is that not many employees get around on foot in the mine area: Fewer people on the ground interacting with mobile equipment traffic means less chance of vehiclerelated injuries. However, the site has been in operation for over 100 years and, with a 5,000-acre footprint, property damage accidents were occurring at an unacceptable rate. After consulting with other mine safety professionals, the site’s safety manager began installing PRECO Electronics’ PreView Radar systems on the site’s heavy equipment.

Two years later, collisions at Lompoc had decreased by more than 50 percent. Bruce Coggin, Senior Environmental Health and Safety Manager at Imerys’s Lompoc site, considers himself very fortunate that the thing he worries most about is property damage from mobile equipment. To be sure, damage to equipment, whether stationary or mobile, is a problem for any company. But, it pales in comparison to the prospect of accidents involving people.

The Price of a Collision: Much More Than Just Repairs

Large haul trucks in tight spaces increases the chance of property damage events. “These haul trucks can hit things and not even know it,” Coggin says. “They’re big, they’re rigid, and they’re usually carrying so much weight that the operators can’t always tell if they’ve struck another vehicle, an out-building, or another piece of mining equipment.”

The financial loss continues well after the actual crash, Coggin says. “The cost of a collision is not just the damage to the equipment. “We have an accident investigation to complete and then a post-accident drug test. The time to perform a drug test can cost in excess of $1,000.00 due to transport of the individual to the off-site facility. ”

How to Cut Your Accident Rate in Half

After talking about these recurring collisions with other members of the Industrial Minerals Association- North America (IMA-NA), Coggins decided to follow their advice and talk to PRECO about its object detection radar sensors. He began by installing the sensors on his heavier equipment; bulldozers, haul trucks, vactor trucks, guzzlers, and graders. His first order of business was to get the systems on equipment operating in confined areas...