Caterpillar collaborates with Guardhat to deliver expanded mine safety solutions

Caterpillar is collaborating with industrial internet-of-things (IoT) technology company Guardhat to offer Guardhat’s safety solutions to surface mining operations through Cat dealers. The two companies are also developing a new system, Cat Connected Worker, which will use wearables to provide added protection for people. The new system will also deliver event-based monitoring and mapping to aid analysis and enhancement of the mining environment.

“Leveraging Guardhat technology, proven in challenging industrial settings, will speed development of a comprehensive, digital solution sought by mining customers,” Bill Dears, Cat MineStar Solutions marketing manager, said in a release. “As a component of Cat MineStar Detect safety capabilities, Connected Worker will provide insight that will enable managers to create safer operations—and to respond quickly if an incident does occur.”

“We are pleased to work with Caterpillar to deliver 'smart' technology to enhance miners’ safety,” added Indranil Roychoudhury, COO of Guardhat. “Our safety monitoring and data analysis system is a multi-product, feature-packed intelligent safety and productivity system that integrates cutting edge wearable technology and advanced proprietary software. It is equipped to detect, alert and help prevent industrial work-related incidents, and it is designed to collect and analyze data to support and improve worker safety and productivity programs.”

When developed, Cat Connected Worker will provide precise location of all workers to the mine monitoring system, and it will allow communication between individuals, teams and sites. Data will enable monitoring personnel to understand the environment workers are facing in near real time, which will facilitate decision making.

As part of Cat MineStar, Connected Worker will be supported by Cat dealers worldwide. The same Cat dealers are equipped to supply current Guardhat technology to surface mining operations.

Connected devices in the Guardhat line include hardhats, personnel tags, asset tags and smartphones using Guardhat applications. The system is Wi-Fi and cellular compatible for communications with the Safety Control Center.

For more information, visit www.Cat.com.