The situation

In April 2018, Orica commenced a Rock on Ground (ROG) service incorporating design, drilling, explosives loading and blasting operations at the Red Hill Quarry site. The ROG service includes environmental monitoring, meaning that prior to each blast, three temporary monitors were positioned, tested, and removed shortly after firing.

Two of the monitors are situated in areas which traverse undulating ground on a steep decline, shown by the contours in Figure 2. Carrying the equipment to and from the install position was not ideal and the addition of inclement weather exaggerated the risks. Orica and Hanson worked closely to mitigate the risks and identified an opportunity to introduce a technology solution to remove the need to reposition vibration monitors for every blast.

Technical solutions

Orica proposed the implementation of ENVIROTrack™, a permanently positioned vibration monitoring solution. Once installed, this system uses solar and battery technology to power the monitors and allows them to constantly report readings to a managed web portal over a 4G cellular connection. Both the customer and Orica have access to all the vibration data and the ability to customise and combine reports as required. ENVIROTrack™ provides online equipment health reporting, decreasing the number of visits to the equipment for maintenance and ultimately, reducing the risk exposure to personnel.

The result

When the safety concern was reported in May 2018, Orica and Hanson worked quickly to identify a solution. ENVIROTrack™ met the needs of the customer and addressed their issues whilst offering additional value. Once an agreement was in place, the required equipment was identified and installed, allowing them to monitor the first blast with it on 15th June 2018.

The existing ground mounts were reused for the vibration monitors, but the monitoring station required a custom mast to suit the difficult mounting conditions near the ancestral stone, shown in Figure 3.

Tailored training was delivered to effectively transition to the paperless monitoring system and SMS notifications were setup to offer near real time PPV readings to the Quarry Manager, at Hanson’s request. 

Concerns were initially raised by Hanson that the monitors were too sensitive due to a higher than normal reading on one of the earlier blasts and some low-level vibrations captured through the night. Side-by-side trials were conducted with the existing monitors and the results were near identical, validating the accuracy of the system and allowing us to cease using the temporary monitors for good. ENVIROTrack™ has greatly reduced Orica personnel’s exposure to risk, improved environmental compliance reporting, and removed the time required for vibration monitor handling.

Orica Digital Solutions wishes to thank Hanson for their support and permission to publish this case study.

Author: Lee Folan