Boliden Rönnskär, part of the Boliden Group, is one of the world’s most efficient copper smelters. The smelting plant is located in Skellefteå, the north of Sweden. The plant receives deliveries of copper and lead concentrates from Boliden’s own mines and from external suppliers. Today Rönnskär is a world leader in electronics recycling and extracts primarily copper, gold and silver from these materials.
Improving workforce safety with digital solutions
Safety is a top priority at Boliden. In order to take workforce safety to the next level at the Rönnskär plant, an agreement has been signed between Mobilaris Industrial Solutions and Boliden. With the agreement in place, the goal is to improve safety by implementing digital solutions that will reduce the risk of incidents in the converter aisle, part of the copper production. With proximity anti-collision solutions, in combination with real-time visualization, anyone in potential danger will be notified via clear warning alerts.
Managing safety in hazardous areas
In the converter aisle, maintenance personnel work close to the converter furnaces during production, while large overhead cranes mounted in the ceiling transport molten material in ladles to and from the converter furnaces. This working environment increases the risk of workforce related incidents. To mitigate the risk Boliden Rönnskär has well developed safety routines and procedures, but with new digital solutions the ambition is to improve the safety even further.
With the real-time digital solutions that will be implemented, the overhead crane operators will have access to visual support to easily see the positions of the workers on the floor. Overhead crane operators and maintenance personnel on the floor will also receive warning alerts if anyone is getting close to the moving crane while transporting the ladles.
- With this solution from Mobilaris we believe that we will now be able to take the safety of our operations one step forward, says Markus Brännström, Manager Automation and Digitalization.
Mobilaris Proximity Solutions
The digital solutions that are being implemented and evaluated are based on an UWB (Ultra Wideband) infrastructure that has an accuracy of 0,5 meters. Personnel will be equipped with personal tags that communicates their position through Mobilaris positioning system. With anti-collision proximity solutions crane operators and maintenance personnel will be warned in case of a potential collision risk.
– Workforce related accident is a major problem that concerns us all, it causes both suffering for the people involved and huge costs for the companies. Boliden has always been looking at new ways of working and has seen the value of digitalization. We are proud that they choose our solutions to set a new level of workforce safety in their most exposed areas, says Andreas Ericson, CEO, Mobilaris Industrial Solutions.
For more information, please contact:
Andreas Ericson, CEO, Mobilaris Industrial Solutions
E-mail: andreas.ericson@mobilaris.se
Phone: +46 72 150 80 44