Utah Department of Natural Resources Digitally Transforms Mine Inspection Workflow with ArcGIS Survey123

Responsible mining is essential to ensure safe conditions for personnel and communities, as well as minimize environmental impacts. The Utah Department of Natural Resources is one of the state’s largest agencies that works to manage and protect the state’s natural resources. The Division of Oil, Gas and Mining (OGM) is dedicated to overseeing the responsible development of Utah’s energy and mineral resources.

OGM comprises four programs: the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program; the Coal Program; the Oil and Gas Program; and the Minerals Program. The minerals team conducts annual inspections of 600 permitted mines to ensure they operate within state rules. This promotes stability for long-term mineral recovery and safety for the public. During inspections, the team looks for signs of unsafe mining methods or if the owner worked outside of their permitted boundaries. The team previously used a paper-based workflow where inspectors wrote notes in the field and manually completed reports back in the office, leading to inaccurate data and inconsistent reporting.

The minerals team transformed this workflow with ArcGIS Survey123, a tool designed to create surveys and collect information. From working offline to consistency in reporting, ArcGIS Survey123 has increased efficiency and given staff the tools they need for sharing fieldwork.

The previous paper-based inspection workflow involved different methods depending on the employee. This included manually completing Microsoft Word documents, completing inspections with typewriters, or handwritten notes. After completing the reports, they were uploaded and sent to a manager for review. The inconsistency with how reports were completed and how the handwritten data was interpreted led to inaccurate reports.

Photos from the site are also helpful for reports. Kim Coburn, OGM minerals lead and inspector in the minerals program, says some inspectors would use a traditional camera, print photos, and staple them to the paper report with written notes and observations. Staff would also upload pictures to add to their Microsoft Word document, but photos were often misplaced.

“There were lots of inaccuracies. We had many consistency problems because everyone would be filling them out differently. It was not only the inconsistencies and how the reports were filled out, but also just the quality of the data,” says Coburn.

According to Coburn, a template was developed in the early 2000s to make inspections more uniform, but the success depended on the inspectors and how they filled out the report.

“When I started working for OGM, it was all just filled out in a Word document for lack of anything better. They were limited by the lack of technology being used…[and] doing the best they could,” she explains.

The inconsistent reporting also did not accurately reflect the mines visited by inspectors. Coburn explains that the team would inspect a mine, but sometimes reports were not completed. As such,  only around 33 percent of the inspected mines resulted in an inspection report. This led to issues with tracking and assigning work.

“Before, we didn’t have reporting requirements, so we didn’t know [the last time a mine was visited]. You had no way of knowing the last time you were there and being able to quantify that,” says Coburn. “Leads would report the number of mines inspected to managers, but they weren’t very helpful.”

As a long-time user of geographic information system (GIS) technology,  Coburn believed it could help the minerals program team streamline the inspection process.  Coburn describes the Utah Department of Natural Resources as avid Esri users who began exploring Esri tools, and eventually decided to use ArcGIS Survey123.  ArcGIS Survey123 is a form-centric data collection tool that allows users to create, share, and analyze surveys.

Coburn found the offline capability of using Survey123 to be a significant benefit. She explains that inspectors often visit mines in rural areas of Utah with limited or no data connectivity. This feature would help inspectors more easily collect digital data (photos and inspection details) while in the field. This would reduce or eliminate redundant data entry back at the office. Coburn also liked the drop-down boxes on the form, which she could fill in with preselected options, which would help them get useful and consistent inspection details.

Coburn researched Survey123 documentation to learn how to implement the utility, and attended several local training sessions and user workshops. She found Survey123 to be very user-friendly.

“I like Survey123 because of the rapid deployment. It was something I was able to create, and I’m not a programmer. I was able to go and just take the spreadsheet and do it,” says Coburn.

Coburn worked with management to get a tablet and began testing Survey123 offline in the field. As other staff in the Department of Natural Resources started expressing interest, she worked to expand its use. After getting the appropriate technology, Coburn began conducting training sessions with her team. “We were able to take the technology that we were learning and help implement it across our division,” says Coburn.

Coburn’s first iteration of a Survey123 inspection form was in 2019. Now in their fifth iteration, the form has been continuously refined based on staff feedback to make it easier to use. The current version allows users to attach photos, write notes on field observations, and answer standardized questions, like whether unsafe materials are present in the mine.

The form also lets staff type in the mine reference number to view all available data and reports on that site.

Using Survey123 has increased the efficiency of many aspects of inspections, from preplanning to fieldwork. As a result, it takes half the time to complete inspections. Older reports can also be reviewed from the same program.

Tracking inspections is simpler with an inspection prioritization map created by Mike Harte, GIS manager for OGM. The map of completed inspections is based on Survey123 inspection reports and helps plan future work assignments.

Photos attached to the new inspection forms are uploaded directly to the department’s database, along with descriptions, if provided. This helps anyone accessing the reports know exactly what they’re seeing. Important report details such as the mine operator or paid permit fees are also viewable in the report.

The offline capability of Survey123 means that staff can view reports from anywhere. Previously, staff had to be connected to the internal network on a desktop computer to access the organization’s database. Now, staff can see reports directly from their phone or mobile device.

“It is so much faster and better than what we had. No matter what device I’m on, I can go and log in…and be able to collect the data…and open a browser and fill out the inspection form,” says Coburn.

The standardized inspection form, with its prefilled selections, led to more consistency in reporting and fewer data accuracy errors. Harte knows the advantage of collecting data across a team of people in a consistent manner from previous roles. He says Survey123 gives the department a standard method so information is uniformly reported. A weekly report of all inspections is sent to management and easily compiled.

“If you can give staff who collect data in the field a form where the data that they’re recording is constrained, then the consistency of data elements and quality is high,” says Harte.

The consistency has also made it easier to train new staff. Harte says the standardized method makes it much easier to train new people or bring existing staff up to speed. Due to staff retirements, the minerals program team has been training a group of new employees, and Coburn says they have been able to pick up the new process quickly.

“The best aspects of using Survey123 are being able to rapidly train field staff to collect data in a consistent way that minimizes data entry error and maximizes consistency of data input,” says Harte.

In addition, the offline capability enables staff to complete their inspections while on-site. This means that when a staff member is back in the office, all inspections done that day can be submitted simultaneously, saving time. Coburn adds that the voice-to-text feature makes recording data much faster.

Survey123 has given the minerals team a better look at how staff spend their time. For example, if an inspector visits a mine four times a year, more detailed information is available about why (e.g., the mine was out of compliance or completing reclamation). Coburn says it helps inspectors build a story as to why extra visits are needed or specific decisions are made.

“[We have] better reporting, better understanding, and where we’re at. We had been very reactive, and this helps us be more proactive and intentional,” says Coburn.

OGM management has been very supportive of the new inspection process and has ensured that staff have the technology they need to uphold it. Previously, quarterly reports produced for management involved a lot of manual work, and now the information is available at their fingertips.

Using Survey123 has expanded to other programs within OGM, including the Oil and Gas Program, which has increased its inspections annually by 15 percent since deployment. With continual improvements implemented to the process each year, OGM looks forward to further expanding the use of Survey123.

“There is a concerted effort in the whole of the Department of Natural Resources here to look at return on investment,” says Harte. “And [upper management] is happy enough with the return on investment that they’re enthusiastic about allowing us to budget for new and improved spatial data collection systems, including Survey123.”