Operational Excellence- Lightning Threat Notification - Gap Analysis

Having been involved with five (5) lightning related 'mining' fatalities over the past 20 years, and knowing of many other significant lightning related incidents that have led to fatalities and injuries affecting the mining industry, it would be fair to say that my perspective to the reality of the lightning hazard is very different to those HSE professionals who will never have been exposed to the technical nuance of lightning, its real world intricacies, or its various injury mechanisms.

For example, I can advise that the following mining related workgroups have been affected in one way or another through significant lightning incidents having occurred on Australian and International mining and resource operations over the past 20 years, including:

• U/G Coal workers- (USA, Russia, and China) 12 x US Fatalities alone
• HME Operator- 4 x Fatalities in 3 pyrolysis incidents
• Assistant Mine Manager -Fatality
• Electrical Superintendent- Fatality
• Truck driver- Fatality
• TSF Contractor - Fatality
• Contractor - Fatality
• Exploration workers - Fatality
• Radio Dispatch Operator - Fatality
• Wheel Loader Operator
• Surface Drill Operator
• Crane Operator
• Mill Operator
• Heavy Fitter
• Electricians
• Instrument Technician
• Railway Maintenance
• Bore-field Maintenance
• Draftsperson
• Exploration camp workers
• Exploration drillers
• Port Workers
• Mine site visitor

It would seem like most work groups from most typical mine-sites will have been affected by lightning in some way, hence this is a risk that can affect every single workgroup across the operations, where through my continual posts here on Linkedin, I use this platform to try and inform/educate the technical nuance of lightning, and to highlight how regularly we see blaring examples where the lightning risk is not that well understood, and too regularly can highlight significant gaps in well laid plans.

And yet these significant incidents continue to persist, despite all of the significant resources that are thrown at this hazard including:

• The significant investment in health and safety by Corporate.
• Significant and often wasted investment in lightning threat detection technologies
• Development of mandatory 'Safe Working Procedures'.
• An army of legs on the ground HSE professionals.

So can you imagine my surprise where the highest lightning risk of any mining related workgroup, being ''Drill and Blast Crew ", (which surprisingly is excluded from the abovementioned list), could ever find itself in a situation where its personnel were unable to obtain lightning threat notifications, or be provided the same level of due diligence that lower risk workgroups would expect and take for granted.

So in 2020, could it actually happen that within such a well regulated, well resourced, and sophisticated health and safety environment, with 'oodles' of regulatory oversight, (some might say over regulated) that the Drill and Blast Crew could ever be working without the protective umbrella of such a simple expectation as a lightning threat notification whilst working with bulk explosives.

I must be joking,,,, right?

Well in 2020, we also have 20/20 hindsight which in this instance highlights that despite all the Health and Safety regimes and oversight, we can still have a situation where Drill and Blast personnel are not being provided with timely lightning threat notifications during high risk periods, and who are essentially left to fend for themselves during high risk periods?

At a recent site visit, whilst conducting an inspection of the Explosives Magazine, all personnel looking to enter the fenced compound are required to remove all ignition sources from their person, and place these items in a weatherproof box located externally to the fence, prior to entering the confines of the explosives storage facility.

So being mindful that those working within the confines of an explosives magazine workers are prohibited from having a radio or smartphone on their person, I enquired of the 'Drill and Blast Supervisor' how his personnel were notified of any impending lightning threat, given that there were no audible of visual threat notification beacons installed at the remote Explosives storage facility, and all of the sites lightning threat notifications were communicated through radio broadcast and in some instances via SMS, that were communicated via a radio dispatch operator who would be monitoring lightning data from an interstate data server and an 'Online Lightning Data subscription".

So can you imagine my surprise when I am advised by the Supervisor that the 'Drill and Blast Crew' were unable to receive these normal threat notifications, where they were totally reliant upon hearing thunder, and/ or witnessing lightning flashes to then prompt them to commence TARP.

You couldn't make this stuff up, yet it took me all of 5 seconds to realize what should have been evident to the sites health and safety team several years ago.

And to those PCBU working in the Mining industry, if you think this is isolated case, you just might like to check in your own backyard. I might be doing you a great service.

So with:

• a well resourced Health and Safety department having spent significant time and money developing TARP that doesn't cater to the highest risk
• an expensive online lightning data subscription that has not been suitably vetted where the threat notifications offered are limited, and do not suit the needs of the highest risk workgroup on the entire operations.

Health and Safety professionals are still administering a system with significant gaps evident in the TARP, with the technology controls, and with the oversight.

This revelation should send shockwaves throughout the industry, and dare I say call for some deep soul searching by :

1. Industry Regulators,
2. Health and Safety professionals
3. Mining Management
4. Drill and Blast Personnel

But then such gaps in TARP are not just limited to activities within Explosives Storage areas.

• For instance there will be those personnel who may work in high noise environments such as Ore handling Plants, and Crushers where hearing protection is mandatory, in which case how do those workgroups obtain their threat notifications?

How is this handled in the real world?

What about some visual means such as high intensity colored strobes/flashing LEDs, controlled via the site data network, the site PLC, or via Wi-Fi .

This is how we would normally recommend such a gap be dealt with in TARP .

• There will also be those areas where intense electromagnetic fields prohibit those with heart pacemakers, or those carrying sensitive electronics on their person i.e. tramp magnets on conveyors etc.

How is this also handled in the real world?

The current draft revision of the AS 1768 Lightning Protection standard is currently released for public comment, and I can advise that a new 'Appendix M" is now included which caters to 'Lightning Risk in Mining operations'. and needless to say 'threat notification of impeding lightning threats' forms an integral consideration for all operations for all workgroups, and especially Drill and Blast Crew working at explosives magazines.

To those wondering how to provide Drill and Blast Crew with threat notifications at a explosives magazine, we recommend and we supply the fit for purpose WAVE Siren/ Strobe stations (Solar Powered) which can provide both audible, and/or visual threat notifications, with 100% autonomous and standalone function.

These threat notification beacons are controlled by fit for purpose professional grade IEC62793 Class 2 lightning detection systems, such as Strike Guard Professional Grade Lightning Warning System which was designed as a warning and threat notification system and which additionally offers a proprietary range of standalone whole of site threat notification options including:

• Automated Sirens/Strobes (wifi controlled)
• Automated multistage color coded Strobes,(wifi controlled)
• Automated visual 2 and 3 stage color coded Light boards,
• Strikeview Email and SMS notifications

The Strike Guard Lightning Warning System is an IEC62793 Class 2 Lightning Warning System that detects, ranges and notifies historic lightning events. Strike Guard requires a double positive coincidence between two independent inbuilt sensing technologies to validate that any detected threat was real, therefore offers zero % False Alarm Rate.

The Strike Guard is 100% fit for purpose for use on Mining operations, and is also future proof in that the system can integrate and harmonize an IEC 62793 Class 1 Sensor that offers predictive threat notifications of impending threats, well prior to the first lightning strike. This Class 1 Sensor measures increases in the local electric field which upon any breach of preset thresholds can notify of developing conditions that may indicate that a lightning strike is imminent.

Strike Guard is the present, and is the future of lightning warning, and integrates and harmonizes historical and predictive whole of site threat notifications within TARP, and caters to all workgroups across typical operations.

Try getting this level of proprietary threat warning and proprietary threat integration from any online data service. It will never happen!

Strike Guard interfaces to an optional WAVE Siren Transmitter, that via a wi-fi means controls the operations of any number of remote audible/ visual WAVE Siren Strobe Stations that can be located up to 5km away without the need for radio frequency licensing, and offers 100% autonomous threat notifications via audible siren/ visual strobes, and also provide optimum management of the all clear, and without any human operator.

Background systems level health status handshaking between all detection and notification system components is occurring every hour so to ensure the system is always operational that battery levels are OK, and that the system will operate if ever called to 'in anger'.

Strike View Software can autonomously broadcast customized emails to individuals ,and/or specific workgroups according to individual TARP requirements, where SMS capability is also possible using third party SMS services.

To those spending $10,000 + per year on network lightning data and receiving historical lightning data, a basic Strike Guard System can be owned outright in less than 2 years years, and can be optioned to include predictive threat notifications. Future proof !

Strike Guard is widely specified globally by those organizations who have been unlucky enough to have experienced previous significant incidents on their operations that have led to the fatality and injury of their personnel.

?This is operational excellence in lightning threat detection and whole of site threat notification, and with no gaps!

The 2020-21 Storm season is coming. The New Australian AS1768 Standard is coming.

Operational excellence is right here and waiting!

Grant Kirkby- Lightningman