Xplore Shield beta: what changes for you

You use Xplore Shield today. Terra Search has rebuilt it, and before the new version replaces the one you use, we would like you to test it with your own work for about two weeks. This page says what changes for you, why the records it keeps matter under the law, and how to start.

Three things to try first

Mine Record Book. Each project's statutory record in the app: inspection records, notices, correspondence, notified incidents, control-measure reviews and statutory appointments, with their files. Entries are added and corrected, never edited or deleted. They are not yet sent to SRS.
Your phone and tablet. Every screen now lays itself out for a phone, a tablet or a computer, the lists as cards on a phone. In the Power Apps app, choose the Xplore Shield version marked Test: that is the beta. The steps to get it are in Terra Search's email and in the online quick start.
Registers and Compliance, one list each. Pick a register or a tab, filter it, and search back past the last 30 days for older forms.

What changes: 16 new features, 14 improvements, 13 fixes

Counted against the Xplore Shield app you use today. Fixes of faults that only the beta's own earlier versions had are left out.

16 new features	14 improvements	13 fixes
Mine Record Book: each project's statutory record, with files	Registers and Compliance each one list: pick a register or tab, and search back past 30 days	Dashboard counts match the lists under them
Statutory appointments, shown on the project	Screens refresh themselves every 15 seconds	Pickers no longer keep an old choice
Feedback from the screen you are on	An empty list says the filters emptied it	A new client filter clears the old project
Help for the screen you are on	Equipment and comms types follow the lists	Coordinates kept after a mistyped edit
Database deletes refused if that item is being tracked in a compliance list	A refused save names the missing fields	Exports no longer broken by an apostrophe
Not held for staff without a mobile	Dates shown the same way everywhere	Export names safe with / or :
Names as on an identity document	Mobile screens: laid out for a phone, a tablet or a computer	Light vehicles flagged when a service is due
Phone and email boxes checked as you type	Fastfield logins & passwords now copyable	Lapsed extinguisher tags always listed
Your profile in the blue bar, the version in the menu, the profile selector under Settings	Settings as one page of fields; the Dashboard's dates in their own row	An unchanged form no longer asks to save
Filters shows when a filter is on	The logo on every screen and the app icon	Incident and tracking times kept as saved
Attention Required counts open hazards and incidents	What's new keeps your ticks	Sync cannot be started twice
A note after a save says when FastField gets the change	Pickers you type into	Leaving a form, Discard says what it does
A refused delete opens the records that stop it	Exports kept in the work orders library, one tap	Export times in your own time zone
Equipment defects collected per item: open until marked rectified, each report a tap away	A busy card says what the app is doing
Work order: the open defects as a PDF, each inspection report beside it on the Intranet
What's new; Notifications: bell, digest

Every change, release by release: www.terrasearch.com.au/xplore-shield-help/change-log, also reached from the help home or Help in the app.

The law the records support

Xplore Shield helps you keep the records; it does not make an operation compliant, and this page is not legal advice. Responsibility for safety stays with your exploration manager.

Under Western Australia's work health and safety Act, mines regulations and codes of practice, a mine operator is expected to:

establish and implement a mine safety management system;
keep a mine record, statutory appointments included (the Mine Record Book);
appoint an exploration manager before exploration starts, absent a site senior executive;
keep people competent for their tasks (Staff Compliance), with communication and emergency plans that suit remote work (Comms Compliance).

What not complying can lead to. Fines of up to $35 000 under the regulations. Inspectors can issue an improvement notice, or a prohibition notice that stops work posing a serious, immediate risk; ignoring either brings fines of up to $285 000 and $570 000 respectively.

Staff whose mobile number is not recorded

Some crews work under their own employer's safety system, and that employer may prefer not to record their mobile numbers with us. You no longer need to enter a placeholder or made-up number for them.

New option available: anyone who can open Settings for the profile can now turn on the Mobile numbers not held setting.
Updating staff: once it is on, you can leave a staff member's mobile number as Not held, or enter a real number if one is provided.
Existing placeholders: please don't update or clear the placeholder numbers already in the system. Our automated text messaging is still being updated to handle blank numbers safely, and removing placeholders now may cause messaging errors. We will let you know as soon as it is safe to clean them up.

Start testing

Check your licence. It must include Power Apps for Office 365 rights. Most Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans do; the free Power Apps Developer and Power Automate Free plans are not enough on their own. If unsure, ask your IT administrator, and tell Terra Search before you buy anything.
Sign in. Open the new version from the link in Terra Search's email and sign in with the account you use for Xplore Shield today. The first time, it may ask to connect to SharePoint: allow it.
Check your profile. Open Dashboard: you should see your own organisation's people, equipment, projects and registers.
Use it for your real work. The new version works on the same records as the app you use today. Make a Mine Record Book entry: choose your project, New entry, the Kind of entry, a Summary, then Save entry. Entries are statutory records: to fix a mistake, choose Correct.
Tell us what you find. Feedback in the blue bar sends a report from the screen you are on; Help beside it opens that screen's help page. Terra Search reads every report. If something stops you working, contact Terra Search directly.

The blue bar at the top of a main screen, with its Help and Feedback buttons

"Refresh" is always the right answer. Work on the beta continues in the background, so the app may say a new version is coming, then that you are using an old version. When you see Refresh, save what you are entering, then choose it.

The app's two update notes: a new version is coming, and the Refresh button

Get the app on your phone or tablet

Install Power Apps from the App Store (iPhone, iPad) or Google Play (Android).
Open it and sign in with the account you use for Xplore Shield today.
The first time, open All apps and search for Xplore Shield MRB. After you open it once, it shows on Home.
Choose the tile marked Test: that is the beta. The tile named Xplore Shield, without Test, is the app you use today.
The first time, allow the connections it asks for.
To keep it at the top, swipe left on its tile and choose Favorite.

The beta's tile in the Power Apps app: Xplore Shield MRB, marked Test

Where to go next

Why an exploration MSMS matters, Release summary and change log, Frequently asked questions and Known behaviours in the beta.

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