Three Unhas Engineering Students Create Safety Vests for Mine Workers

Terkini.id, Makassar – Workplace accidents in mining areas are a critical issue that must be addressed immediately. The risk of workplace accidents—such as fires, landslides, gas poisoning, or explosions—is a major concern for miners on the job.

The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as safety vests, does not guarantee workers’ safety, especially when performing their primary tasks in underground mines, because the vests’ main function currently is merely to provide illumination when working in dimly lit areas.

A team of three engineering students from Hasanuddin University (Unhas)—Muhammad Akbar Musseng (Mining Engineering, 2016), Alif Tri Handoyo (Computer Engineering, 2016), and Achmad Fachry (Electrical Engineering, 2017)—under the guidance of Dr. Aryanti Virtanti Anas, ST, MT—took the initiative to enhance the functionality of existing safety vests.

The three students added a pulse heart rate sensor and a GPS (Global Positioning System) to detect workers’ heart conditions and locations in real time.

“This serves as a preventive measure against workplace accidents caused by workers’ health issues, as well as enabling rapid evacuation of workers when accidents occur by tracking their last known location,” said Akbar Musseng.

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“This will also be monitored through the website we’ve designed,” he added.

Funded by the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Kemenristek Dikti)

Unhas

The three Unhas engineering students were supervised by Dr. Aryanti Virtanti Anas, ST, MT

The innovation developed by these three students received a grant through the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education’s Student Creativity Program (PKM) to develop this technology.

“This technology is named SAR-VEST (Safety Heart Rate Vest Prototype). Development has been underway for three months and is still ongoing to ensure the device functions efficiently,” said Akbar Musseng.

“Our hope is that the vest we are currently designing can be commercialized in the mining sector to facilitate and ensure protection for miners,” he continued.

In addition, Akbar said, his team also hopes to advance to the 32nd National Science Week (Pimnas) in Bali, so that the technology can compete with teams from other regions.