Case Study
British Gypsum
Pennine Telecom goes underground!
PENNINE Telecom has installed many different forms of communications equipment in unusual places, but there is nothing more unusual than a radio system 1,000ft underground.
Gypsum has been mined in Kirkby Thore, near Penrith in Cumbria, for nearly 100 years and, to satisfy the growing demand for plaster-based products for the house building industry, the workings are constantly expanding. 
To comply with current health and safety regulations the mine owners, British Gypsum, decided to improve communications, particularly as some of the mining staff often work alone in secluded parts of the mine.
The company called in Pennine Telecom who advised that radio communications were the only option to keep in contact as mobile phones do not work at such depths.
Pennine Telecom has had experience with this type of unusual request before as the company has also installed radio equipment 500ft down a salt mine in Cheshire and a stone mine in Derbyshire, which ran deep into a mountainside.
After consulting with British Gypsum and visiting the mine, Pennine Telecom installed Motorola handportables with Zetron Infrastructure.
“Having ‘lone workers’ down a mine is a bit of a health and safety headache, but we have solved this with the new radio system,” commented Shaun Cummins of Pennine Telecom.
“The radios are especially designed for lone worker situations. One feature, for example, allows pre-recording of a user’s name and location. If an emergency situation arises an alarm is triggered and this message is automatically transmitted to the control room giving the precise location of the person in trouble.
Pennine Telecom also trained the miners on how to operate and maintain the new equipment.
“We have also provided covers for the radios as the mine is very dusty,” said Shaun.
Darren Loftas, Mine Manager of British Gypsum was also impressed by the features on the Motorola radios. “The new radio equipment is great for communicating underground and, with a mine this big, we knew Pennine Telecom could meet our requirements. The mine is continually expanding so we will be expanding the system as required”.