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Risk assessments have been conducted in the South African mining industry over the past 20 years, but still we do not always correctly identify the root cause of an incident. An incident investigation is not only about identification of the hazards, but also about understanding the way hazards materialize and what the release mechanisms are. Fundamentally, risk is about uncertainty and for this reason incident investigations remain a very subjective practice. In addition, the low level of detail obtained by conventional surveying is not appropriate in the changing world of technology and data availability. However, a significant improvement in risk management has been shown where mines have adopted the principle of multilateral hazard identification through the inclusion of laser scanning, along with multiple control regimes to avoid repeats of incidents. This article provides an outline and description of the mines’ accident investigation process from the time an incident occurs to the point when the investigation is closed out. It also examines how laser scanning can be used to add significant value in terms of identifying the real or root cause of an incident and in this way allow real working solutions to be formulated to avoid incident repeats. What has been learned from laser scans of a number of incidents is discussed. The article highlights the requirements for forensic surveying specifically in an underground environment and alerts the reader to pitfalls and potential flaws that can be introduced into a forensic survey if correct attention is not given to fundamental surveying principles.

The impact of forensic laser scanning technology on incident investigations in the mining industry