Caterpillar is collaborating with Guardhat to offer its 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,” said Bill Dears, Cat MineStar™ Solutions marketing manager. “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," said Indranil Roychoudhury, chief operating officer, 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 the locations of all workers 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, aiding in decision making.