Credit-card sized wireless tags could stop miners being crushed by trucks in tunnels, the CSIRO says.



The tags, which are small enough to fit on miners' helmets, transmit radio signals to receivers, providing extremely accurate readings of where miners are.



The information will help save lives and prevent common injuries, said the CSIRO's Dr Mark Hedley, who pioneered the technology.



Most mining accidents are not caused by catastrophic cave-ins or gas explosions but by trucks, he said.



Miners work in small dark tunnels surrounded by various vehicles, so it is quite easy to be accidentally crushed against a wall.



Massive mining trucks have also been known to squash smaller vehicles containing surveyors, Dr Hedley said.



By feeding location data to screens inside trucks and in control towers, "you'd be able to see who is around you", Dr Hedley said.



The technology is about ten times more accurate than conventional methods such as GPS, which bounces location data off orbiting satellites.



The new device can track a miner to within 20 centimetres, while GPS is only accurate to within two metres.



Mining technology company Minetec has incorporated the technology into a new product launched on Tuesday at the Asia Pacific International Mining Exhibition in Sydney.



The same technology has previously been used by sports teams to track the distance covered by athletes during games.



AAP