Underground mining operations present significant safety challenges due to harsh environmental conditions, limited visibility, and potential exposure to toxic gases. This paper presents a comprehensive framework integrating wearable biosensors with advanced positioning technologies to enhance miner safety and operational efficiency. The proposed system combines real-time physiological monitoring (heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen saturation) with precise underground positioning using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology. Analysis of empirical data from multiple mining operations demonstrates substantial improvements in safety metrics, including a 31-50% reduction in incident rates, 50-64% improvement in emergency response times, and 95-98% accuracy in hazard detection123. The integrated system architecture encompasses four primary layers: wearable sensor networks, underground positioning infrastructure, communication mesh systems, and data analytics platforms. Cost-benefit analysis indicates a return on investment breakeven point of 1. 7 years with an initial investment of 80, 000 for a 50-miner operation 1.
Petrovski et al. (Fri,) studied this question.