2016
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
SAFETY
SPONSORED BY
Dr Daniel Bongers
Dr Daniel Bongers is the inventor of the
SmartCap, a wearable fatigue
monitoring technology that uses a
modified baseball cap to read an
individual’s EEG to determine their level
of alertness. This level is used notify the
operator/management of their elevated
risk of having a micro-sleep/fatigue
event. Bongers, now Chief Technology
Officer of SmartCap Technologies Pty Ltd,
is passionate about safety, and has worked tirelessly
over the last more than a decade to ensure the
success and widespread adoption of the SmartCap
technology. Having been involved in all aspects of
the SmartCap evolution and delivery since inception,
he has worked with thousands of operators as well
supervisors, mine managers and CEOs around the
globe to help sites achieve genuine safety
improvements. Though the SmartCap journey has
been a long and bumpy one, Bongers has
maintained an integrity of purpose and commitment
to success.
His strive for technical excellence and commercial
exclusivity saw him pursue and achieve the world’s
first independent validation of a fatigue monitoring
tool, cementing the SmartCap as the new golden
standard. This achievement was the catalyst for
increased transparency and validation efforts
amongst all related technologies, giving mining
operations more informed choice and driving
innovation in the field.
Perhaps unusually, he chose to formally train as a
chef while studying for his PhD in mechanical and
space engineering at the University of Queensland.
His PhD was in Artificial Intelligence. He’d worked in
the kitchens of a number of restaurants throughout
his uni career, and gained Recognition for Prior
Learning, so that he only had to complete some final
units of study to gain formal qualifications as a chef.
He is still very passionate about cooking and hopes
one day to retire from engineering and open a
restaurant.
Background and technology in detail
Each baseball cap contains electroencephalogram
(EEG) brain monitoring sensors concealed in the
cap lining and uses an operator’s brain wave
information to calculate a measure of drowsiness.
This calculation is wirelessly communicated to a
display in-cab, or to any Bluetooth enabled device to
alert the driver or operator of fatigue. Such fatigue is
most pervasive in long-haul transport and heavy
industries such as construction and mining, where it
is responsible for hundreds of fatalities and injuries
each year as well as millions of dollars in lost
productivity. In the
absence of
appropriate fatigue
management
strategies and
technologies, this
problem is
exacerbated by the
combination of an
aging workforce and
increasing demands
on operators to
achieve production quota.
SmartCap “represents the most accurate fatigue
monitoring technology available,” which has seen its
widespread adoption in both heavy and light mobile
mining equipment. This technology has made an
impact in operations in Australia, Southern Africa,
and South America. SmartCap has become
integrated into daily operations, and is an integral
part of fatigue risk management systems and
employee assistance programs. A New South
Wales, Australia group of coal mining operations has
celebrated a milestone of 1,000,000 hours of
SmartCap use, over which time were zero fatigue
incidents. This unprecedented result is being
attributed to the detection capabilities and
subsequent culture change associated with the
SmartCap technology.
At an individual level, a number of operators have
been able to identify previously undiagnosed sleep
conditions or other fatigue-related health issues
using SmartCap. With treatment and ongoing
management, these operators are now more alert,
making their workplace safer for themselves and
their colleagues. Furthermore, these operators are
enjoying a dramatically improved quality of life since
the change. The most pronounced effect of
SmartCap to date is its ability to facilitate cultural
change on-site, by giving a language to the
previously vague concept of fatigue. SmartCap has
become a household name in the mining industry,
and continues to help thousands of mine workers
get home safely each day.