Mining and construction sites continuously strive for the goal of zero injuries with health and safety officers continuously refining their safety policies to provide a safer, more productive workplace. However, one of the biggest hazards in mining and construction are vehicles. Due to the sheer size of the vehicles required for earthmoving purposes, the damage they can cause, whether by accident or due to negligence, is enormous. Investigating post-incident is challenging and most cases depend on eyewitness accounts to ascertain the series of events that lead to a health and safety violation. Fortunately, the latest cloud-based dashcam driver monitoring solutions is changing this. Modern dash cam setups have matured into a comprehensive, scalable management solution for real-time driver monitoring, giving safety managers greater visibility and control over their vehicles from the minute they leave the depot, until their safe return. Not only, but this these dashcams can also now monitor if drivers are keeping their eyes on the road in front of them and can notify the driver and the company if they weren’t paying attention to the site while driving.
Safety hazards aplenty in the mining and construction industries
Risk intensive industries can benefit immensely from the application of bi-directional dashcams inside heavy-duty vehicles used on site. So, what do these solutions look like? They’re no longer a mini-cam recording onto an SD-card, that’s for certain.
Dashcam technology has evolved into a sophisticated mobile vehicle DVR (Digital Video Recorder) system, complete with front-facing and rear-facing dash cams embedded with multiple intelligent sensors and 4G connectivity to provide real-time cloud-based vehicle tracking, monitoring and alerts. Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) add a significant dimension to the fleet, providing not only the details of incidents but the full context. The dashcam can now identify when a driver’s eyes are no longer focused on the road and sends an automatic alert within the vehicle and to onsite operators. Add an automatic upload of video footage to the cloud along with ease to scale, and today’s dashcam system is everything that fleet operators in the construction and mining industries have been waiting for.
Safety means keeping an eye on drivers, not just vehicles
Bi-directional dashcams are recommended where driver performance is a safety issue. For example, in operating mining drilling vehicles, construction diggers and the like, it is useful to be able to visually ascertain exactly what the driver was doing at the time of the incident to determine fault. Bidirectional cams offer a front-facing view of the road ahead, which gives investigators even more insight. In addition to the physical monitoring aspect of the solution, there is a GPS tracking component as well. Fleet managers have real-time insight into the location of their vehicles, including the manner in which they are being driven.
Such systems are useful from a monitoring and alert perspective. Due to the fact that these dashcam solutions are able to identify when a driver is not paying attention, this functionality can be used by site managers to ensure drivers are keeping their eyes on the road and focusing on the task at hand. Today’s dashcam solutions are customisable – they can be configured to send a notification to certain personnel… Furthermore, the fact that all captured footage is stored in the cloud means that it cannot be tampered with or destroyed even if the devices and vehicles are destroyed. This is useful as evidence in disciplinary hearings, criminal investigations and the like.
To get the most out of such cloud-based dashcam systems, operators responsible for fleets of mining or construction vehicles should seek offerings that require low upfront hardware costs with affordable subscription license fees. With minimal outlay on hardware and easy scalability, companies can enjoy cost benefits immediately along with enhanced levels of driver conscientiousness.
By Mark Chertkow, MD at Graphic Image Technologies
Dashboard Cameras and Buying a Dash Cam for your Drive – What do we need to Know? https://t.co/uO9ZgjAg9h #ArriveAlive #RoadSafety #DashCam pic.twitter.com/qsCUTaHWYg
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) October 16, 2019
