Rescue workers from KWK Knurów-Szczygłowice tested this wireless communication system for more than a year. That is why they were the first ones to receive this innovative equipment. “Other mining rescue workers in Poland have been testing such solutions but nobody has ever done it on the same scale as we have,” says Janusz Grodoń, head of the Mining Rescue Station at the Szczygłowice Section of KWK Knurów-Szczygłowice. “We started our tests from the training chamber, then we subjected these devices to extreme conditions under the ground. All our remarks served as feedback for making improvements in the technology by the company that owns it and, once the improvements were made, we tested the equipment again.”
As a result, the mine rescue stations in the Knurów and Szczygłowice Sections have acquired what is currently the most advanced communication system in the world. Rescue workers no longer have to roll out and roll back in their communication cables in the area covered by the rescue campaign. It is enough for one team to hang up lightweight repeaters (radio signal relay devices) every 150 meters to let all other rescue workers participating in the campaign communicate with each other and with the underground operation control center. In addition to voice communication, the system also transmits data on the battery status, signal strength, etc. The locations of all rescue workers are updated in real time and are displayed on a computer screen. The system may also support lightweight cameras attached to helmets worn by rescue workers.
The equipment may be expanded with other sensors which, in the future, will enable the control center to monitor the condition of each rescue worker. Personal Communication Devices of rescue workers, i.e. two-way radios placed in a case in the form of a hearing protector, are fitted with microphones on a gooseneck, making it easy to position them closer to the mask to be able to talk freely. The sound is then filtered to minimize any interference from the surrounding sources. Personal Communication Devices are mobile, fitted on a helmet and require no adjustment when turned on. Five teams, the chief rescue worker and the control center may all be connected to the base station.
The decision to commence work on the roll-out of a modern communication system was made after the disaster in the Zofiówka Section in May 2018 in which five miners died as a result of the strong tremor. The JSW Management Board appointed a task force that focused on devising guidelines to upgrade the standards of communication, identification and monitoring of employees working underground. Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa is the first mining company in Poland to introduce this type of leading-edge communication solution.
