Every miner accounted for in seconds, on ATEX-rated UWB.
A pan-African mining group needed regulator-grade mustering and proximity safety underground across four sites.
Case studies and programme figures on this page are composite worked examples — patterns from comparable deployments, not attributed results for a named client. Named references are available under NDA when you engage.
What they were up against.
Slow paper mustering
Headcount took minutes the regulator wanted in seconds.
No proximity safety
There was no automated safety between people and haul vehicles.
Unknown refuge occupancy
Refuge-chamber occupancy could not be verified during an event.
Composite worked example — figures are ranges from comparable programmes, not attributed named-client results. Named references available under NDA. We model your own numbers when you engage.
Vendor-neutral, tied to a named KPI.
We designed ATEX/IECEx-rated UWB for underground worker location, automated mustering and proximity detection across four mine sites.
What we delivered.
- Underground miner location and automated mustering
- Vehicle proximity detection in active zones
- Refuge-chamber accountability
The typical range for a programme of this shape.
The stack behind it
Baseline, method, period — and what we excluded.
These pages are composite worked examples, not named-client scorecards. Figures are ranges from comparable RTLS/RFID programmes and published industry sources where noted.
- Baseline: Clipboard muster; minutes to unknown headcount underground.
- Method: ATEX-rated UWB accountability; time-to-verified muster; refuge occupancy checks.
- Period: One production level through drills and live shifts.
- Excluded: Surface GPS analogies for underground coverage.
Programme pattern for this vertical
Mine mustering programmes replace radio roll-call with zone presence at refuge bays and portals. Tags must survive dust, moisture and shift abuse; readers must cope with steel and multipath. Offline modes matter when backhaul drops.
Link to emergency management procedures and shift systems so headcount discrepancies open a named response path within minutes.
Outcomes to expect — and how they are earned
Outcomes typically include shorter time-to-accounted headcount, clearer exception lists, and drill evidence for regulators. Underground coverage design — not the dashboard — decides whether numbers are believable.
Lessons from comparable programmes
Lessons: drill on night shift, not only day demos; define 'unknown tag' handling; never claim 100% accountability without a verified coverage map and battery SOP.
Deeper problem framing
Manual roll-call fails when radio channels congest and contractors sprawl across levels. Regulators and insurers increasingly expect demonstrable accountability drills. Tags without coverage maps create false certainty — the worst failure mode.
Approach
Instrument muster points and critical transitions; define unknown-tag and low-battery workflows; drill night shift; integrate to emergency notification trees; keep purpose limited to safety.
Outcomes and measurement
Time-to-accounted headcount and exception-clearance time are the primary KPIs. Accuracy without drill performance is incomplete.
Governance, risk and what we refuse to claim
These pages remain composite worked examples — not named-client results. We will not attribute percentages to a confidential site. When you engage, we rebuild baselines from your incidents, labour samples and system logs.
We refuse vanity accuracy claims without a coverage map, and we refuse programmes that silently add productivity surveillance onto a safety business case without a fresh DPIA or labour consultation.
Implementation sequence and change management
Map muster points and refuge bays against actual evacuation routes. Prove coverage with walk-tests under shift load. Publish what 'unaccounted' triggers within minute bands. Train controllers on exception lists before the first scored drill.
Contractors need induction packs and device issue/return logistics. Battery death mid-shift is an emergency-management problem, not an IT ticket. Keep analytics for productivity out of the muster tenant.
Ask vendors for offline behaviour demos and multi-level steel test data. Reject any proposal that skips night-shift drills in the acceptance plan.
Buyer checklist, vendor challenges and engagement shape
For mustering, demand night-shift drill criteria and explicit unknown-tag handling in the acceptance certificate.
Buyer checklist before you sign: (1) written system of record for events; (2) acceptance tests with 95th-percentile performance under real interference; (3) integration owner named in IT/OT; (4) privacy or labour consultation path if people are tagged; (5) cybersecurity zoning sketch; (6) five-year TCO including batteries, spares, recalibration and SLA escalations; (7) exit/export terms so you are not hostage to a cloud tenant; (8) a pilot that can fail without political punishment.
Vendor claims to challenge in this pattern: brochure accuracy without production load; 'compliance included' without artefacts; ROI that assumes perfect adoption in 30 days; references that cannot be called under NDA; install partners who have never worked your vertical's overlays; shared support accounts; and any design that dumps locating onto a flat plant or clinical VLAN.
How TRACIO typically engages: stage-1 architecture and measurement design; vendor-neutral shortlist and RFP language; pilot acceptance criteria; then optional implementation oversight or programme rescue if a prior pilot stalled. We stay independent of hardware margin. Composite pages like this one exist so you can prepare the workshop — your numbers replace every planning band when we model payback.
Risk register themes that recur: mute fatigue on alerts; shadow spreadsheets reappearing beside the platform; battery logistics understaffed; master data too weak to support identity; works-council or IG review starting too late; and success declared on demo day before night-shift reality.
Document baseline windows explicitly: what you measured, for how long, which shifts, and what you excluded. Investment committees and auditors both punish fuzzy before/after stories. If your baseline is weak, spend two to four weeks fixing measurement before ordering anchors or portals. That discipline is cheaper than a stranded deployment and is the difference between a locating programme and a technology souvenir.
Programme pattern for this vertical
Mine mustering programmes replace radio roll-call with zone presence at refuge bays and portals. Tags must survive dust, moisture and shift abuse; readers must cope with steel and multipath. Offline modes matter when backhaul drops.
Link to emergency management procedures and shift systems so headcount discrepancies open a named response path within minutes.
Governance, risk and what we refuse to claim
These pages remain composite worked examples — not named-client results. We will not attribute percentages to a confidential site. When you engage, we rebuild baselines from your incidents, labour samples and system logs.
We refuse vanity accuracy claims without a coverage map, and we refuse programmes that silently add productivity surveillance onto a safety business case without a fresh DPIA or labour consultation.
Implementation sequence and change management
Map muster points and refuge bays against actual evacuation routes. Prove coverage with walk-tests under shift load. Publish what 'unaccounted' triggers within minute bands. Train controllers on exception lists before the first scored drill.
Contractors need induction packs and device issue/return logistics. Battery death mid-shift is an emergency-management problem, not an IT ticket. Keep analytics for productivity out of the muster tenant.
Ask vendors for offline behaviour demos and multi-level steel test data. Reject any proposal that skips night-shift drills in the acceptance plan.
Buyer checklist, vendor challenges and engagement shape
For mustering, demand night-shift drill criteria and explicit unknown-tag handling in the acceptance certificate.
Buyer checklist before you sign: (1) written system of record for events; (2) acceptance tests with 95th-percentile performance under real interference; (3) integration owner named in IT/OT; (4) privacy or labour consultation path if people are tagged; (5) cybersecurity zoning sketch; (6) five-year TCO including batteries, spares, recalibration and SLA escalations; (7) exit/export terms so you are not hostage to a cloud tenant; (8) a pilot that can fail without political punishment.
Vendor claims to challenge in this pattern: brochure accuracy without production load; 'compliance included' without artefacts; ROI that assumes perfect adoption in 30 days; references that cannot be called under NDA; install partners who have never worked your vertical's overlays; shared support accounts; and any design that dumps locating onto a flat plant or clinical VLAN.
How TRACIO typically engages: stage-1 architecture and measurement design; vendor-neutral shortlist and RFP language; pilot acceptance criteria; then optional implementation oversight or programme rescue if a prior pilot stalled. We stay independent of hardware margin. Composite pages like this one exist so you can prepare the workshop — your numbers replace every planning band when we model payback.
Risk register themes that recur: mute fatigue on alerts; shadow spreadsheets reappearing beside the platform; battery logistics understaffed; master data too weak to support identity; works-council or IG review starting too late; and success declared on demo day before night-shift reality.
Document baseline windows explicitly: what you measured, for how long, which shifts, and what you excluded. Investment committees and auditors both punish fuzzy before/after stories. If your baseline is weak, spend two to four weeks fixing measurement before ordering anchors or portals. That discipline is cheaper than a stranded deployment and is the difference between a locating programme and a technology souvenir.
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People and machines apart
Independent advisory means the radio is chosen last — after the job, the constraints and the system of record are clear.
Safety and utilisation as separate jobs
Mustering, collision and asset utilisation get different success tests.
Environment-first shortlists
ATEX, dust and network reality eliminate pretty demos early.
Operate with site systems
Events into the platforms supervisors already run on shift.
Measurement
Baseline: proximity/collision events (where logged), muster times, and “person not found” incidents. Pilot: one decline/panel with RTLS mustering and vehicle proximity. Steady-state: muster completion time, proximity alert quality, and open safety actions. Safety figures stay within what site leadership will publish.