Ontario mining safety review prioritizing proposals

The chair of the committee, George Gritziotis is also the province's Chief Prevention Officer.

He saidhe will soon be meeting with an advisory group whichis prioritizing proposals from the review, as well as a recent inquest in Sudbury.

Gritziotissaidthe 24 recommendations from the inquest into the deaths of JordanFram and JasonChenier at Stobie Mine in Sudburyoverlap, or dovetail, with the 18 from the review.

"You know there are recommendations in there that speak to hazards that are present in the workplace today that we want to move on right away," he said.

"Following our May meeting, we will begin prioritizingwhich ones we are going to push forward on, and which are priority areas based on a number of things including risk assessment,our data around evidence and discussions we have with our partners. In terms of timeline it's going to be a busy six to twelve months."

Gritziotis saidrequiring mines to file formal plans for water management and ground control are among the top issues.

He saidthose are items that will involve the Mining Legislative Review Committee.

But some interim safety proposals are already in the works. These were announced about six months ago when the review was at its halfway point.

Gritziotis saidthe committee is also considering improved training for inspectors.

Another recommendation is the mandatory use of high visibility clothing above and under ground.

"That was something we actually decided on even before that recommendation came out and we're looking to launch here in our operations hopefully by the end of the year." said Robson.

The provincial government convenedThe Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review more than a year agodue to pressure, in part, from unions upset with the deaths of two miners at Stobiein 2011.