Case Study | Access Control for 2000 Caval Ridge Mine Site Workers

When nearly 2000 mine workers access and egress the Caval Ridge site daily, one can only imagine the chaos that could occur if there was no access control. The workers were systematically transported from their accommodation village to the mine site by buses that collected and dropped them at the designated pick-up/drop-off points. However, the entry and exit of the workers to and from the site needed to be monitored.

To ensure safety and compliance with QLD Coal Mine Safety and Health Act, BMA’s primary goal was to obtain a solution that would not only facilitate easy accessibility for the workers but also capture live data of personnel who had entered/exited the site.

It was envisaged that this would be partly achieved through the use of Badge Scan Units (BSU) to scan employee IDs at the entrance and exit of the site; and partly through a turnstile, to control the movement of personnel. BMA therefore needed a turnstile system that could be easily integrated with the Badge Scan Units.

Moreover, with a high volume of workers and only two bus pick-up/drop-off points, the potential for delays to the project was substantial should one of the BSUs or turnstiles malfunction. Hence, a turnstile with high-throughput and superior reliability was critical for BMA.

They selected TriStar J Series turnstiles from Rotech.
The waist-high turnstiles were situated at the entry and exit points of the site, and were integrated with BMA’s Badge Scan Units. This enabled the workers to swipe their ID cards to activate the turnstiles before boarding the buses or entering the site. The solution provided by Rotech also included boom gates mounted with BSUs to control vehicular traffic.

The TriStar turnstile system supplied by Rotech not only increased the efficiency of transporting personnel to and from the site, but also promoted a safer working environment by tracking and controlling mine access.

The Rotech turnstile system is capable of allowing 25 people per minute, enabling BMA to achieve a goal of a four-minute turnaround to fully load/unload each bus. Other features of the TriStar J Series turnstile that make it ideal for high volume traffic sites include:

• Robust, stainless steel cabinet
• Active arm which drops in case of emergency
• Turnstile locks only if unauthorised access is attempted, reducing power consumption and wear on mechanism
• Turnstile can be integrated with any access control system.

Rotech has over 30 years’ experience in supplying high quality turnstiles and pedestrian access solutions for industrial and commercial projects. We locally manufacture boom gates, turnstiles and industrial door operators, so our solutions can be designed and manufactured to meet customer specifications. Products can also be sourced from a worldwide network of suppliers and customised for individual customer requirements. Rotech proudly supplies customers with a fast and professional service supported by strong technical back-up.