Health & wellbeing The roof of the Modular Coal-Spec can be lowered so it can be transported in low-seam mines.
Mining’s hidden ticket to increased diversification THE AVAILABILITY OF SUITABLE AMENITIES OFTEN STANDS IN THE WAY OF FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. ENTER MINEARC’S ENVIROLAV TOILET – A SAFE, DURABLE AND FUNCTIONAL OPTION.
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ounded in Perth in 1999, MineARC has become a spearhead in facilitating operational safety in many different industries. In the same year the organisation was established it developed the world’s first carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide scrubber to assist in the decontamination of air within refuge chambers. Today, MineARC has a global footprint, with offices and manufacturing hubs in Australia, South Africa, Chile, China, Mexico, United States and Europe, and distribution extending into almost 70 countries. One of the company’s leading innovations, the EnviroLAV toilet, facilitates improved accessibility for one of life’s inevitabilities. Ill-maintained toilets can pose safety risks in underground mining operations, an issue that extends beyond an uninhibited stench. Underground spaces can be contaminated if toilets haven’t been tended to and overflow, something further
exacerbated by the inherent poor air quality of these working basements. Equally important is the wellbeing of workers, who don’t deserve the irritation of a blown underground loo. This is where MineARC’s EnviroLAV toilet comes to the fore. The EnviroLAV can operate for extended periods of time without being emptied. “The EnviroLAV is quite a unique product in that it can remain underground for very, very long periods of time without the requirement of frequent emptying,” MineARC’s business development manager for ancillary products Shane Bushell says. “When we say long periods of time, it can be up to 12 months in the right conditions.” The toilet is a mainstay, constantly working and continually managing its sewerage on the go. Bushell says the system works in such a way that it breaks down the waste on an ongoing basis. It effectively uses a combination of air and ecofriendly chemicals to create a bacterial
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environment underneath the toilet. “It breaks down the waste and then the water which is flushed through is evaporated,” he says. “It provides a very hygienic and efficient solution that can allow for much longer periods underground.” The EnviroLAV has unique configurations tailored to hard rock environments and coal mining operations, along with different variations depending on the size of the space and needs of the client. “In our hard rock options, we’ve got three sizes - the compact and the standard footprint, which are both a single cubicle, and then the dual toilet which gives you two cubicles,” Bushell says. “Each of these operate in the same way. Obviously the smaller, compact design is great for small footprints – very restricted areas, and then the standard and the dual are applicable in larger areas.” Often regarded the most dangerous of mining environments due in part to the
