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More to mine security than theft control

Security surveillance has become increasingly important to South African mines, not only because of the increase in crime, but also in the wake of new labour regulations, which mandate health and safety of workers. "However crime remains a critical problem," says Rowland Yorke-Smith, regional director of Intervid Africa - the regional operations of security solutions provider Intervid. "The industry annually loses tons of pure gold worth millions of rands to theft syndicates that operate locally and internationally."

Intervid Africa manages and services the security technology requirements for numerous mines across southern Africa. "We have deployed highly customised, industry-specific solutions for several of the world's leading gold, platinum, diamond, nickel and copper mines," he says.

"Our solutions allow users to utilise their full video surveillance system for loss, theft, crime prevention, management, operational control, stock and safety control."

The company utilises proprietary digital hardware and software for visual and audio applications, and is able to integrate other existing electronic security systems, such as alarm systems and access control systems, over dedicated fibre-optic networks on individual or multiple sites. These can be controlled either on-site or remotely.

"The issue facing mines today is that they have to worry about more than theft. There are also operational challenges," he says. "These include monitoring personnel safety on the mine, including underground surveillance, event detection and personnel control; monitoring the production line, and general mine security including perimeter protection."

As a result, demand for improved methods of controlling access to secure areas has grown, as has monitoring activities where material is being sorted.

"Card access control systems are increasing in popularity with many mines looking at additional forms of access control, including biometrics.

"There is also growing demand for digital data storage capacity, as large amounts of video must be kept because mines are being held more accountable for the safety of their employees.

"The general thrust of the mining safety and health legislation is that under their obligations of care, mine management is required to ensure its workers are not adversely affected by the work environment. Safety management systems are required to manage risks and demonstrate that workers are not harmed," Yorke-Smith explains.

Intervid's solutions have not only provided the mechanism to minimise bottom-line theft on South African mines, but the company's solutions are now also assisting in enforcing and monitoring health and safety regulations. Their digital surveillance solutions have even been used to meet ISO 9002 quality standards at various mines in South Africa.

York-Smith believes that digital technology offers enormous benefits to mine owners as it allows for total security risk management, because management is able to observe and react to all aspects of production from a central point.

"By integrating control systems, digital video surveillance and theft detection systems, Intervid has enabled its clients to cover more territory with fewer security personnel, resulting in lower costs and increased yield from the mining operation," he concludes.

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