Automate PIAM Processes to Improve Mining
Safety, Security and Workforce Management

Due to the recent pandemic, businesses around the world were forced to revamp workforce operations. The mining industry was no exception. On top of all the stringent  compliance mandates required for mining operations, new health safety mandates have since been added to list of Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) requirements already in effect.

As mining operations strive to achieve pre-pandemic production levels, there are longstanding challenges that mining companies face to ensure worker safety while maintaining physical security, health and safety, and fluid operations. Workforce management is another significant challenge given the scale and turnover frequency of personnel and contractors.

Since the inception of corporate mining, access control has played a critical role in helping organizations maintain physical security and time management. From early paper logs to time clocks and today’s Physical Access Control Systems (PACS), the primary role of these solutions has been to keep track of who was on premise and for what duration of time. Unfortunately, that is no longer sufficient. The combination of health & safety regulations and related compliance requirements require mining companies to move from static access control based on manual processes to dynamic access control based on automating a myriad of security, safety, health and compliances rules and workflows. Modern Physical Access Control Systems (PACS) have elevated the role of access control to include Personal Identity Access Management (PIAM) to a large degree by enabling systems to better identify and authenticate individuals, further increasing the ability to document the activities of individuals for both physical security, HR and now health & safety reasons. But these systems are largely physical and reactive in nature, despite their ability to capture reams of otherwise untapped data.

RightCrowd Workforce Access effectively mines data from existing physical access control and enterprise systems to deliver new insights on all access activities for a much broader scope of business intelligence applications across the enterprise.

By automating access control processes across their access lifecycle, RightCrowd Workforce Access ensures that identity and access level data are kept up to date at all times across employees, contractors and visitors. The solution seamlessly integrates with PACS and other enterprise systems, applying attribute-based access control (ABAC) rules to ensure all mining personnel and contractors on-site are in compliance with established security, safety and health protocols, and are accounted for in the event of an emergency.

Physical access plays an instrumental role in preventing cybersecurity breaches, and should adhere to the concept of zero trust, which has been widely adopted for cyber and IT security. The zero trust premise is that no identity, IoT device, data flow, application or other security related element is to be trusted by default, requiring each to be continually validated using multi-factor authentication before access or other permissions are granted, even if they have been trusted in the past.

Truth of the matter is that many high-profile cyberattacks result from an individual gaining physical access to a server, IP phone, laptop or other IoT using expired, stolen or copied ID badges, falsified emails or other invalid credentials. Once inside the controlled perimeter of a facility, virtually any office, server closet, intercom phone, laptop and other networked building and security systems are prime attack surfaces that can be easily accessed.

RightCrowd Workforce Access has been delivering the principles of Zero-Trust within the physical space over the last 18 years, long before the general market recognized its importance in creating a safe, secure, and compliant workspace.

RightCrowd Workforce Access can help prevent physical cyber breaches from occurring by automating the management of all physical access control activities and policies. Specific proactive measures such as tracking and reporting anomalous access activities, limiting access privileges, and maintaining compliance and security policy mandates helps enforce zero trust.

With RightCrowd Workforce Access, you can effectively mine data from your PACS and related enterprise systems to improve overall physical security, safety, and workforce management. Our advanced software solution not only automates manual processes, it provides visibility to activities and data that may otherwise go undetected. Learn how RightCrowd Workforce Access can increase physical security, mitigate risks, and enhance productivity and profits at your mining facilities.