In the East Kazakhstan region, an emergency capsule is being developed to rescue miners and workers at hazardous metallurgical facilities, reports infohub.kz.
Similar technologies are already in use in several countries, including Russia and Australia. Kazakh engineers expect that the domestic capsule will be able to accommodate more than 20 people at once.
The structure is planned to be made of steel and equipped with autonomous life-support systems. In the event of a collapse or other accident, the capsule should protect people from debris. Inside, there will be a supply of oxygen, medicines, and equipment designed for about 36 hours of autonomous operation.
For now, developers are creating prototypes. In the future, the technology is ready to be implemented at industrial enterprises, but the project's realization will depend on the interest of mining companies.
One of the project's developers, Bulat Syptayev, believes that on large enterprises, one such capsule will not be enough.
"More than 600 people go down per shift, so one capsule is simply not enough there. In my understanding, an emergency rescue capsule is like a fire extinguisher in a building: they need to be placed in several locations," he noted.
According to available data, in the past year alone, more than 2,500 accidents occurred in Kazakhstan's mining sector. Developers hope that the new system will improve the safety of workers at mines and metallurgical enterprises.