Chile's Codelco Andina Completes Automated Fire System Retrofit for 33 Mining Trucks

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chile's state-owned copper company Codelco's Andina division has completed the automated retrofit of fire suppression systems for the majority of its CAEX mining trucks, aiming to continuously enhance operator safety. This initiative is being rolled out across all Codelco work centers, with the retrofit at the Andina division completed without incidents and in less time than originally planned.

Marco Castro Neira, CAEX Planner at Andina's Mining Maintenance Department, stated that this achievement aligns with Codelco's value declaration of protecting employee lives, providing operators with high-quality and safe equipment whose systems are continuously monitored and procedures updated.

The company emphasized that this was a collaborative effort involving the Mining Maintenance Department, the Occupational Safety and Health Department, and partner companies serving the Andina open-pit mine. Against the backdrop of updated procedures, the retrofit automated the fire suppression systems on 33 trucks. Erwin Alfaro Prado, Operations Manager at Sercoing, the company responsible for implementation, explained that these trucks were originally equipped with manual activation systems located inside the cab or on the stair floor. The installed AFEX automatic fire detection and suppression system can detect and suppress fires, identifying them in the early stages and automatically releasing extinguishing agents to the affected areas, combined with audible alarms, providing operators with critical response and evacuation time without the need for manual activation of any mechanism.

The automation of the fire suppression system also drove other work to enhance truck structures. César Fernández Chacana, Komatsu Contract Administrator at Codelco's Andina division, stated that construction personnel installed four fire-resistant blankets beneath the entire cab area where the operator sits and rerouted all fuel lines and fittings away from high-temperature zones on each CAEX truck. The next phase of the process plans to install a fuel shut-off valve on each truck to further increase preventive measures.

Ramiro Parra Muñoz, Director of Research, Vulnerability, and Emergency Affairs at the Andina division, believes that this achievement incorporates lessons learned by the company and fosters collaboration among various management departments and related enterprises, enabling the team to achieve excellence in work and provide operations with high safety standards for personnel and asset protection.