Lomas Bayas mining adopts autonomous equipment shutdown system

Mining operation Lomas Bayas, part of the Glencore group in Chile, has installed a proximity‑detection system that can automatically stop its large tire‑handling machine when a worker enters a dangerous zone. The technology, developed with specialist firm Bailac, uses personal PAD sensors and a magnetic field to define warning (yellow) and danger (red) zones. If a person breaches the red zone, the machine halts within about one second without relying on operator reaction.

The upgrade moves the safety system from level 8, which only provided visual and audible alerts, to level 9, which adds autonomous intervention. Senior engineer Erick Franco and Bailac representative Michael Morales highlighted that the solution reinforces existing safety barriers and aims to prevent fatal interactions between personnel and heavy equipment.