Functional Requirements for a Human Cyber-Physical System to Improve Mineworker Safety in Underground Mines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/Abstract
The mining industry remains heavily reliant on mineworkers, whose working conditions are typically more arduous than in most industries. As such, mineworker safety should be prioritised. With recent technological developments in mining and other industries focusing on the digitalisation of workspaces, mineworkers should be at the forefront of the digital transformation. In fact, the increasing digitalisation of mining operations and the key roles performed by human workers mean that mines should be viewed – and developed – as human cyber-physical systems. Through an analysis of the current context of underground mines and the exploration of opportunities for improved human-system integration, this paper formulates a set of functional requirements to guide the development of human cyber-physical systems that improve the safety of mineworkers in underground mines. The implications and limitations of the functional requirements, as well as the way forward towards the realisation of human cyber-physical systems for underground mines, are also discussed.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sa'eed, Nicole, Karel, Anton
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
THE INSTITUTE, AS A BODY, IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STATEMENTS AND OPINIONS ADVANCED IN ANY OF ITS PUBLICATIONS.
Copyright© 1978 by The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. All rights reserved. Multiple copying of the contents of this publication or parts thereof without permission is in breach of copyright, but permission is hereby given for the copying of titles and abstracts of papers and names of authors. Permission to copy illustrations and short extracts from the text of individual contributions is usually given upon written application to the Institute, provided that the source (and where appropriate, the copyright) is acknowledged. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of review or criticism under The Copyright Act no. 98, 1978, Section 12, of the Republic of South Africa, a single copy of an article may be supplied by a library for the purposes of research or private study. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. Multiple copying of the contents of the publication without permission is always illegal.
U.S. Copyright Law applicable to users In the U.S.A.
The appearance of the statement of copyright at the bottom of the first page of an article appearing in this journal indicates that the copyright holder consents to the making of copies of the article for personal or internal use. This consent is given on condition that the copier pays the stated fee for each copy of a paper beyond that permitted by Section 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. The fee is to be paid through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., Operations Center, P.O. Box 765, Schenectady, New York 12301, U.S.A. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale.
