Mine rescue, from the refuge chamber to the readiness board.
Eleven films at an underground coal mine in Queensland and a gold mine in Western Australia, with its haul trucks. The crew’s phone and the dashboard play together, chapter by chapter, from the start of shift to the readiness, responder and drill packs.
Film 3 of 11: Refuge chambers and places
Jo Martin scans refuge chamber 3 North and finds oxygen candles past expiry. The defect restricts the chamber until new candles are fitted and an officer signs it off.
Refuge chamber 3 North’s weekly inspection is overdue, and Jo Martin finds expired oxygen candles inside. Watch it restricted, fixed and signed off.
Refuge chamber 3 North’s weekly inspection is overdue, and Jo Martin finds expired oxygen candles inside. Watch it restricted, fixed and signed off.
- An overdue chamber. 09:20. Black Ridge North is mapped from the surface down: portals, declines, levels, and each refuge chamber and cache. A refuge chamber’s capacity is the people it holds. A cache’s is its par of self-rescuers. Places are checked like vehicles, with a QR tag and a status. RC-3N’s weekly inspection is overdue.
- Scan the chamber. 09:41 in 3 North. Jo Martin scans the QR tag on refuge chamber 3 North. RC-3N opens with Check overdue: its weekly routine inspection was last done on 11 October. On the board, this overdue inspection is the last reason in the escape lane.
- Routine inspection. Jo checks the air, door seals, battery, surface call, oxygen and water. Readings are checked against the site’s own limits, and each lands in the record with its limit. The earliest consumable expiry goes in too, with a warning 30 days before it.
- Candles past expiry. Two spare oxygen candles are past expiry. Jo photographs them and reports a defect. She marks it Major, which restricts the chamber, just as it would a vehicle. The defect reaches the defect board with its photo.
- Restricted, not overdue. Jo submits the check. With no signal it waits on the phone and sends later, never twice. The inspection is no longer overdue, but the defect restricts RC-3N, and the escape lane says so. The board’s places list shows RC-3N restricted.
- Resolve and sign. 11:20. New candles are fitted. Sam resolves the defect with what was done, and signs it off. RC-3N is ready again, and so is the escape lane: chambers ready, caches at par, inspections on time. Only the medical lane still has reasons. That is film F.
Illustrated from the real Escudo Mining crew app and dashboard, in Escudo Mining’s own words: Ready, Restricted and Out of service. Every rule pack’s values are confirmed with each customer, and limits, intervals, items and wording are set by each site. On the phone crews sign on, keep the incident log, record equipment use and reseals, make explosives ledger entries, quarantine a machine, open the responder site pack, run and sign drills, and scan QR tags to run the checks, all with no signal. Competencies, the register, exercises, permits, stocktakes, chemicals, plant fires, notices and drill plans are recorded on the dashboard. Black Ridge North, Mount Kestrel Gold, their people, machines and quantities are invented.
Everything mine rescue brings, in one place.
In Escudo Mining it is always on: each mine site is set up with its rule pack and headcounts. In Escudo Emergency an organisation’s administrator switches it on in Settings, and every other check keeps working alongside it.
132 starter templates for mine and industrial emergency response
Breathing apparatus and self-rescuers (15)
- Closed-circuit breathing apparatus pre-use check
- Closed-circuit breathing apparatus after use
- Closed-circuit breathing apparatus bench test
- Closed-circuit breathing apparatus periodic service
- Breathing apparatus test bench calibration
- Absorbent and scrubber stock
- Open-circuit breathing apparatus check
- Cylinder periodic test
- Oxygen transfer pump or booster
- Self-rescuer user check
- Self-rescuer periodic inspection
- Self-rescuer test submission
- Self-rescuer cache inspection
- Self-rescuer donning and change-over training
- Lamp room shift audit
Gas detection (5)
- Breathing apparatus and gas detection weekly
- Portable gas detector bump test
- Portable gas detector calibration
- Fixed gas sensor or tube bundle point check
- Detector tubes and sampling kit
Refuges, caches, stations and escape (15)
- Refuge chamber routine inspection
- Refuge chamber function test
- Refuge chamber maker’s service
- Refuge chamber relocation and commissioning
- Change-over station inspection
- Fresh air base kit readiness
- Fresh air base log
- Underground emergency station
- Mine rescue station readiness
- Escapeway inspection
- Tag board and accounting audit
- Stench gas system test
- Emergency communications test
- Inertisation docking point inspection
- Airlock test
Rescue vehicles, extrication, rope and confined space (12)
- ERT rescue truck shift check
- ERT light vehicle shift check
- Underground rescue vehicle shift check
- Surface ERT fire and rescue appliance daily
- Rescue trailer inventory
- Extrication tools monthly
- Extrication tools annual service
- Heavy plant rescue kit
- Rope rescue kit pre-use check
- Height safety and rope rescue periodic inspection
- Lifting equipment inspection
- Confined space rescue kit
Fire and suppression (10)
- Fire suppression operator check
- Fire suppression service
- Fire suppression discharge and recharge
- Fire on mobile plant record
- Extinguisher and hose reel
- Underground fire main and hydrant
- Conveyor fire protection
- High-expansion foam generator readiness
- Nitrogen inertisation readiness
- Tyre or heat exposure quarantine
Explosives and hazardous chemicals (records) (10)
- Explosives magazine inspection
- Explosives stocktake
- Shift explosives return
- Blast record
- Misfire record
- Explosives loss, theft or security event
- Explosives vehicle or MPU pre-start
- Hazardous chemical store inspection
- Spill kit
- Fuel farm and dispensing
Exercises, callouts and replenishment (6)
- Emergency exercise record
- TARP test record
- Callout test
- Callout log
- Post-incident or post-exercise replenishment
- Team readiness roll
Mine ambulances (7)
- Site ambulance shift check
- Underground ambulance pre-entry check
- Site ambulance weekly vehicle and fit-out
- Site ambulance monthly
- Medical UTV or side-by-side pre-start
- Post-patient vehicle clean and restock
- Vehicle decontamination after a chemical event
Medical equipment (8)
- Monitor defibrillator daily check
- Site AED check
- Oxygen system weekly
- Suction, airway and ventilation weekly
- Immobilisation and splinting monthly
- Stokes litter, basket and rope rescue stretcher inspection
- Biomedical service record
- Device safety alert action
Medicine kits and cold chain (4)
- Medicine kit seal and expiry check
- Medicine kit restock and reseal
- Cold chain log
- Weekly temperature logger review
First aid places, landing zones and camps (6)
- First aid room or medical centre weekly
- Underground first aid station or cache
- Mass casualty cache quarterly
- Helipad or landing zone check
- Airstrip readiness for aeromedical
- Remote camp medical kit and chest
Exposure and special kits (5)
- Cyanide exposure kit check
- Hydrofluoric acid exposure kit check
- Heat stress kit check
- Snake bite and envenomation kit check
- Trauma and haemorrhage control kits
Medical response and drills (4)
- Medical response operational record
- Handover point readiness
- Medical scenario drill
- Telehealth and medical advice line test
Mining plant (also in Escudo Fleet where the body type fits) (25)
- Haul truck pre-start
- Articulated dump truck pre-start
- Excavator or shovel pre-start
- Wheel loader pre-start
- Dozer pre-start
- Grader pre-start
- Water cart pre-start (fire role)
- Fuel and lube service truck pre-start
- Blasthole drill pre-start
- LHD loader pre-start
- Underground truck pre-start
- Jumbo or production drill pre-start
- Underground charge-up unit pre-start
- Integrated tool carrier or EWP pre-start
- Shotcrete sprayer and agitator pre-start
- Underground light vehicle or personnel carrier pre-start
- Coal free-steered vehicle pre-start
- Continuous miner or bolter miner pre-start
- Underground vehicle brake test
- Dynamic service brake test (surface)
- Undiluted diesel exhaust test
- Mobile crane pre-start
- Lighting tower or generator check
- Conveyor shift check
- Winder daily check
Each template is copied in as a draft. Your site changes it to its own procedure and wording, enters its own limits from the maker’s manual and its procedures, and publishes it. Limits are never set for you. Medical templates hold no patient details, and medicine kits are recorded by seal number and earliest expiry only.
Rule packs
Each mine site chooses a pack. The board takes the greatest of the pack’s fixed number, its percentage of the workforce, the teams it requires and any higher minimum the site sets for itself. Values marked to confirm are confirmed with each customer before they are relied on.
Every pack also carries an escalation ladder (15 and 60 minutes by default) and, where it applies, how long each explosives record is kept.
Equipment kinds
Each item keeps its place and its history. Items that cycle, like breathing apparatus sets, also keep their condition: ready, in use, awaiting after-use test or on the bench.
- Closed-circuit breathing apparatus
- Open-circuit breathing apparatus
- Self-rescuer
- Cylinder
- Absorbent
- Gas detector
- Test bench
- Calibration gas
- Rescue tool
- Rope rescue gear
- Lifting gear
- Confined space gear
- Thermal camera
- Radio
- Cap lamp
- Extinguisher
- Hose
- Foam equipment
- Stretcher
- Stretcher loader
- Stair chair
- Monitor defibrillator
- AED
- Suction
- Ventilator
- Infusion pump
- Oxygen regulator
- Oxygen cylinder
- Battery
- Kit
- Pouch
- Medicines fridge
- Refuge chamber kit
- PPE
Test and service regimes
An item can carry several regimes, each with its own interval and due date. A failed test takes it out of service.
- User check
- Preventive maintenance
- Electrical safety test
- Performance verification
- Battery replacement
- Bench test
- Service
- Calibration
- Bump test
- Sample test
- Inspection
- Hydrostatic test
Places that get checked
Each has a QR tag, its own templates, defects and a status, and sits at a location in the site’s tree.
- Refuge chamber
- Change-over station
- Self-rescuer cache
- Fresh air base kit
- Emergency station
- Rescue station
- First aid room
- First aid station
- Helipad or landing site
- Mass casualty cache
- Explosives magazine
- Chemical store
- Escapeway
- Rescue vehicle
- Ambulance
- Fire appliance
- Mining plant
Locations
A tree for each site, so equipment and places sit where they really are, underground or on the surface.
- Surface area
- Portal
- Shaft
- Level
- Decline
- Drive
- Panel
- Pit
- Processing plant
- Refuge chamber
- Change-over station
- Self-rescuer cache
- Fresh air base
- Emergency station
- Rescue station
- Assembly area
- Hydrant
- Magazine
- Chemical store
- Inertisation point
- Escapeway
- First aid room
- First aid station
- Medical centre
- Helipad
- Airstrip
- Ambulance rendezvous
- Make-ready bay
- Mass casualty cache
- Store
Plant quarantine
Anyone starts one, from the phone or the dashboard. The machine stays out of service for at least the minimum time, and an officer clears it after inspecting it.
- Hot tyre
- Tyre fire
- Brake fire
- Wheel fire
- Lightning strike
- Contact with power
- Other
Plant fire records: where on the machine
With the ignition and fuel sources, how it was put out, how long it burnt, the machine hours and people injured as a count.
- Engine bay
- Turbocharger
- Exhaust
- Hydraulics
- Fuel system
- Electrical
- Transmission
- Brakes
- Tyre
- Cabin
- Body or tray
- Other
What the suppression system did
Each fire records it, and the last 12 months add up by outcome, so a system that failed to work stands out.
- Activated by itself
- Activated by hand
- Fitted, not activated
- Fitted, failed to work
- Not fitted
Regulator notices
Recorded against a visit and a machine, with a due date, actions and the outcome: actioned with the evidence, or withdrawn.
- Improvement notice
- Prohibition notice
- Directive
- Substandard condition notice
- Non-disturbance notice
- Infringement notice
- Other notice
On the phone, with no signal
12 preset drills for mine emergency response
From the drill library, each with its steps, roles, equipment and source. A site adds the ones that fit, puts them in its own words and sets its own interval. An interval is filled in only where a regulator states one for the whole country, and it is confirmed for the operation. The drill library.
- Emergency plan test
- Multi-agency exercise
- Self-rescuer donning and change-over
- Evacuation and accounting for all persons
- Refuge chamber entry and activation
- Callout test, including night and weekend
- TARP test
- Fresh air base set-up
- Mobile plant fire and fire suppression activation
- Vertical rescue
- Confined space rescue
- Heavy vehicle extrication (open cut ERT)
What the readiness board counts
Each lane is Ready, Restricted or Not ready with its reasons. The board is worked out every two minutes and straight away when the roster, a team, a place’s status or the site’s settings change.
Ambulance and patient transport packs
With ambulance switched on, a station can choose a patient transport pack. Escudo Ready reminds when a vehicle passes its age or distance with nothing on file, or a certificate the pack names is missing. The operator decides.
- NSW non-emergency transport providers. Vehicles up to 5 years from first registration or within warranty, otherwise a risk assessment on file. No siren and an amber beacon only. Engineer’s certificate for the stretcher mount, restraint and 240 V outlet certificates. NSW Health PD2024_008.
- Victoria non-emergency patient transport (to confirm). 400,000 km, with an exemption on file up to 600,000 km. Two-person crews for regulated transports. Non-Emergency Patient Transport Regulations 2026.
What Escudo Ready never does
Records only. Escudo Ready keeps the records, works out the board and reminds people. The decisions stay with your site, its licence holders and its procedures.
- Authorise anyone to store, issue, use or fire explosives
- Decide that a magazine, a chemical store or a quantity complies
- Declare a site capable, compliant or safe, or judge a TARP or an emergency plan
- Assess competence: it records training and validations
- Certify training from a drill: a drill record says what was done, by whom and when
- Say a machine is safe to return to work after a quarantine or a fire, or find the cause of a fire
- Treat a regulator’s notice as met: “actioned” is the site’s own record
- Hold patient records, medicine counts, Schedule 8 balances or administrations
- Hold fitness, medical or other health information about staff
- Share records across organisations, or keep contact numbers for the responder pack
- Set a limit or an interval for you: the site enters its own from the maker and its procedures
Who it is for
Escudo Mining records, works out and reminds, and the same mine rescue module is in Escudo Emergency for emergency services with a mine to cover. Deciding whether a team enters, a store is lawful or a plan is adequate stays with your site and its procedures. Everything Escudo Mining does.
See it at your own site
Send us your refuge chamber inspection and your breathing apparatus checks. We will set up a mine site with your rule pack and show you the readiness board working.
Or email us: info@escudoready.com