Mining safety review makes 18 recommendations

A year-long review of mining health and safety released in Sudbury on Wednesday includes18 recommendations on how to make the job safer.

Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn says company owners, provincial officials, and union leaders are all committed to therecommendations, including more risk assessments and plans to manage silica dust and diesel exhaust.

"They better treat them seriously," he said. "There's a lot of work gone into this. The employer community has done an excellent job, I think."

• Sudbury mines given hundreds of health and safety work orders

George Gritziotis, chair of the review committee, said progress has been made on the system workers and companies use to notify each other about workplace dangers.

When the committee first started its work a year ago, many in the mining industrysaid lack of trust made the system break down. Gritziotis says it's different now.

"It's been a challenging piece, but I think we took it on and we've done a good job," he said.

12 public sessions

Gritziotis, who is Ontario's chief prevention officer,worked with anadvisory groupof employer and labour industry representatives, health and safety organizations and affected families. It also held 12 public sessions across the province.

Therecommendations include:

• Mandatoryrisk assessments.
• Keeping arecord of significant seismic events andincidents of ground instability.
• Aformal plan to manage hazards that cause occupational illness.
• A water management program for all underground mines employers.
• A formal traffic management plan in underground mines.
• Emergency response plans for exploration sites, new mines, surface mines and mining plants.
• A mining-sector risk assessment takenevery three years.

There isno mention in the reportof several recent fatalities in Sudbury that helped spur thereview:JordanFram andJasonChenieratStobiein 2011;Stephen Perry at Coleman in 2012;and PaulRochetteat Copper Cliff in 2014.

Contractors NormBisaillonand MarcMethedied atLockerbyshortly after the review started in 2014.