Health & safety
size. Robust enough to carry up to six miners at once, the winder has the potential to bring far more miners to safety quicker. With statistics like these, Preece is unsurprisingly bullish about the depths of the equipment’s potential. “I’d have absolutely no hesitation plugging into one of these winders – and having full confidence in what the guys have designed.”
At the same time, Fourie and his colleagues have worked hard to make their equipment effective in other ways. Doing away with cumbersome mine- powered approaches – as well as hydraulic alternatives that required operators to fiddle with pressure valves as they descended – the MRS machine is run through a self-contained generator. In practice, that means rescuers can get down to the business of actually helping miners even sooner, particularly useful in countries like South Africa, where power cuts are fairly common. Even better, Fourie has clearly thought about rescue missions as a collective enterprise. With rescue winders stationed in Carletonville, just north of several gold mines, he says a team can be deployed within the hour. Collaboration is another important piece of the puzzle. To secure a license for the new platform, for instance, Fourie says that MRS worked closely with the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. Arguably even more important was liaising with trade unions, as well as the miners themselves. Given these are ultimately the people actually risking their lives down the shaft – and the
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ones who’ll be relying on the MRS to save them in case of emergency – this seems wise. Happily, notes Preece, the initiative got an “overwhelming thumbs up” from workers, who even sung the system’s praises to the local news.
The way forward for winders With the mobile rescue winder now safely deployed in the Gauteng gold fields, what about its prospects elsewhere? Though it was only unveiled a few months ago, Fourie says he’s already received messages from Australian mining interests developing their own model of winder – albeit one with a far smaller range than its South African cousin. US mines have been in touch too, Fourie adds, something he suggests could be the start of a far broader trend. “I think that the world will follow,” he says. “It’s a good initiative and relates back to safety.” Whatever happens to the mobile rescue winder,
it’s clear that similar systems are here to stay. In February 2020, for instance, Levitt-Safety, a Canadian equipment company, hosted the world’s first Canadian International Student Mine Rescue Competition. Among other things, the students had a chance to rescue trapped actors from a mock mine. That’s shadowed by work by Gantner, an Austrian company, which a few years back installed a state- of-the-art rescue winch at a mine in Tasmania. All good news – especially if it can stop the Sagos and Shandongs of the world from taking more young lives before their time. ●
The MRS rescue winder can extend to 3,000m and can travel at 1.5m per second, which is nearly double the speed of earlier models.
80% MRS Training & Rescue 19
The increase in survival chances if an individual receives medical attention within the first 60 minutes following a traumatic injury – the so-called ‘golden hour’.
MRS Training & Rescue
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