1 AUSTRALASIAN MINE SAFETY JOURNAL

SMARTER TRACKING OF EXPLOSIVES

Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID)technology is the explosives industry’s newbest friend. RFID tags are AutomaticIdentification and Data Capture (AIDC)devices with the capacity for safe, fast, androbust reading/writing, storage, and remoteretrieval of data via radio waves.

RFID can:

• Provide explosives manufacturers and majormining companies with a technological andbusiness advantage, especially those tradingwith EU countries

• Seamlessly integrate a Explosive Tracking Codeinto your current inventory system

• Improve security and accountability ofexplosives between manufacturing and fieldapplication

• Improve tracking of explosives and detonatorsin the field for better post-blast analysis

EU Regulations – Commercial ExplosivesAccountability and TrackingIn April this year the European Union (EU) groupof countries established regulations requiring all27 EU countries to possess commercialexplosives accountability and tracking at a unitlevel by April 2012. The leading-edge RFID-ETCremedy from Global Tracking Solutions Pty Ltd(GTS) will enable both explosives manufacturersand mining companies to fulfil and easily exceedthese requirements.

Adding Explosives Tracking Code (ETC) toExisting Manufacturing SystemsGTS has developed a single set of protocols—the Explosives Tracking Code (ETC)—for thelayout of an RFID tag that all manufacturers andusers of RFID technology in explosives can adoptas an industry standard. The key advantage tomanufacturers is that current barcodeinformation can be embedded into the RFID tagwithout the redesign of existing inventorymanagement systems.

The RFID-ETC protocol meets the requirementsof EPC Gen 2 and ISO standards and is currentlybeing reviewed by the Australian ISO workinggroup. This protocol surpasses the minimumcriteria for data accountability and recordingrequirements, and can be used virtuallyindefinitely in both civilian and militaryapplications. For example, in a typicalmanufacturing plant, 268,777,216combinations can be used in a single RFID tagfor 16 product types within a-24 hour periodwithout duplication in 99 years.

RFID can provide both an inventory taggingprocess along with product traceabilitythroughout every stage of the manufacturingprocess. PREtrack® is the RFID-ETC systemcurrently provided by GTS.

Johnex Explosives, Australia’s leading innovatorin high-tech explosives technology, implementedthis solution at their Kalgoorlie plant in WesternAustralia in May this year. An RFID tag added toall boxes allows for individual box tracking andcan be upgraded to individual explosives unitlevel, in a controlled and systematic manner.

Furthermore, the 13.56 MHz read/write RFIDJohnex Explosives implemented meets importantsafety considerations because:• It is below the power required to reach the

minimum no fire zone for an electric detonator

• It is a magnitude greater than the AustralianStandards (AS 2187.2-2006), where it statesthat no mobile phone devices in the 800 to2100MHz range are allowed within 20 metresof explosives

Ensuring Security of Explosives fromManufacturing to Field Application

RFID can provide the magazine keeper with newresources to perform key tasks better and achievehigher work efficiency while meeting all new andfuture regulations. For the first time, both stockmanagement and risk reporting can be generatedin both paper-based and electronic formats. Thecontinuity of smarter explosives tracking betweenmanufacturing and field application is provided byGTS’s MAGsafe® system.

MAGsafe® provides new systems to ensure thesecurity and accountability of explosives in theform of:

• Bio-reader access controls

• Electronic and paper-based reporting systems

• 5 x 5 Risk Matrix based around preset fieldgenerating Red Flag reporting

• Stock management at a unit level across therange of tagged products

• Alerts on out-of-date stock based on the dateof opening and not on the date ofmanufacturing

• The generation of new RFID tags

MAGsafe® can also be used in both ElectronicProof of Delivery (EPOD) and consignment stockmanagement with live reporting on actual stockmovement and stock on hand. This speeds up theprocess and efficiency of ordering andmanufacturing for both consumers and suppliers.

Precision Tracking of Explosives in the Fieldand Better Post-blast AnalysisRFID’s live electronic data capture provides awhole new range of tools and options to trackexplosives and detonators in the field withprecision to each blast hole, and removeslimitations of today’s identification system.

For example, paper-based systems provide a lackof traceability once the explosive leaves the box,restricting personnel from fully understandingwhat is being loaded into each blast hole.IEtracker® by GTS is an RFID-ETC device thatcollects electronic data on hole by holeexplosives usage as well as general blastpatterns, thus enabling both manufacturers and

consumers to pinpoint faulty units or the sourceof misfires. The blast engineer can upload eachhole’s data back into his mining/blastingsoftware and review a range of options forcontinual process improvement to maintain highquality and safety standards.

When MAGsafe® and IEtracker® managementsystems are used within the same operation thedata is independently cross-referenced for aninstant and accurate report of exactly what hasbeing removed from a magazine and what hasbeing placed down a hole at a unit level.

GTS is currently talking with major internationalmining companies on both underground andsurface implementation of MAGsafe® andIEtracker®.

For more information please feel free to contactJohn Moore jmoore@globaltracking.com.au orJim Cash jcash@globaltracking.com.au.

AUSTRALASIAN MINE SAFETY JOURNAL 2

Above left: John Moore Global tracking Solutions.

Right: Jim Cash and John Moore Global TrackingSolutions