Managing director of NLT Australia Tim Haight said the safety benefits for coal mining were immeasurable.

“The ability for workers to send messages back to the surface has huge implications for safety – not only during rescue operations, but during daily operations as well. For the first time workers will be able to send emergency alerts to central control rooms or other networked computers, call for help or simply verify their status.”

Haight told International Longwall News NLT had already received commitment from a number of mines to supply the Messenger package.

The Messenger integrates standard WiFi 802.11 technology into the cap lamp which allows workers to receive and respond to messages as well as being able to initiate an emergency message from the device.

Haight said it also offers the added benefit of location-based tracking to create the ultimate solution for safety and productivity.

Messages and location information are managed through a web-based software suite – the Northern Light Digital Mine software suite – which allows messages to be sent from any connected terminal on the network.