Guardvant has released the ProxGuard GPS Collision Avoidance System to address new requirements in South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources, Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act No. 29 of 1996).

ProxGuard GPS provides 360° collision avoidance protection around vehicles (light vehicles and heavy equipment) by using GNSS and peer-to-peer communications to provide bi-directional notification of each vehicle’s presence.

ProxGuard GPS has audible alerts in the cab and offers a video screen that displays trajectory, speed and other movement information to increase the operator’s situational awareness. As with all Guardvant solutions, transactional event data is collected and can be used to determine when, where and how often events occur for reporting and procedure development.

Guardvant’s CEO Sergio Blacutt said: "Guardvant continues to rise to the challenges facing mines to operate safely and efficiently, and comply with regulations by providing the tools they need to keep mine employees and contractors safe. Implementation of our systems will not only prevent accidents but also provide mines with actionable data that can help improve procedures and policies."

The new regulations, effective in 2015, outline scenarios where there is significant risk of collisions for any machine that is not on rails and describes measures that mines need to take for automatic detection and alerting of operators to other vehicles in close proximity.

Guardvant’s ProxGuard Collision Avoidance System, which uses a combination of radar, cameras and GPS, has been helping heavy equipment operators avoid close-proximity accidents and with the addition of the ProxGuard GPS close-proximity detection for light vehicles is now available.