Skip to content

Falconbridge pleads not guilty to charges laid after miner killed on job

BY KEITH LACEY klacey@northernlife.
BY KEITH LACEY

Why was a Falconbridge miner standing so close to a danger zone and how did a control lever dislodge and slam a heavy gate against him?

Those are the key questions at the trial into the death of Kevin Payette, 35, who was killed July 28, 2001 while working at the 3,600-level of Falconbridge Ltd.'s Fraser Mine in Onaping.

Payette suffered massive internal injuries and died hours after being slammed by a ?baffle gate?, a heavy steel gate located at the bottom of an ore chute.

The trial heard Monday Payette and partner Luc Duclos were in the process of igniting a small explosion at the end of blasting pole to try and bring down some ore that had become ?hung up? in the ore chute when the accident took place.

The baffle gate is opened and closed by an air-controlled lever, located on a landing platform about 10 feet from where the gate was located at the bottom of the ore chute.

The trial heard Payette's upper torso and head were found under the front cover of the baffle gate inside the ore chute, while his legs and lower torso were found outside the gate.

Falconbridge has pleaded not guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company is charged with failing as an employer to provide "proper information, instruction and supervision? to an employee about the use of blasting aids and whether there was adequate fencing or guarding of the battle gate and control lever.

Mike Gelinas, testified Payette was conscious as rescuers rushed to assist him after the baffle gate hit him.

Payette was rushed to hospital and died the next day from massive internal injuries.

Gelinas, who was close to tears during his testimony, said after Payette was freed from the baffle gate, those on the scene knew he was badly injured and preceded with extra caution to get him onto a gurney to lift him to surface.

The trial heard Payette was hired by Falconbridge after working at mines in Timmins. He had only been on the job at Fraser Mine for four months at the time of his death.

Ministry of Labour prosecutor Wes Wilson said the Crown will attempt to prove Payette was not trained properly by the company and this led to the accident and his death.

The Crown alleges the baffle gate and control lever were not properly guarded and his also led to his death, said Wilson.

Wilson also told the court the control lever did not appear to be defective and it's not known how it was moved causing the baffle gate to hit and seriously injure Payette.

Ministry of Labour inspector Daniel Beaulieu spent six hours on the stand Monday, much of it spent explaining to the court and Justice Guy Mahaffy how blasts take place underground to loosen hung up rock and how the baffle gate and lever control system work.

Beaulieu testified that after he got a call about a serious incident at Fraser Mine, he ordered the scene be secured by mine supervisors.

Ore cars are placed under the chute once ore passes through the chute and only one 10-tonne car was filled and a second one half-full and six others empty when he arrived on the scene, said Beaulieu.

He was made to understand Payette and his partner were using blasting poles to try and bring down the ore stuck in the chute, he said.

To open and close the baffle gate, a control lever has to be pushed down and up, he said.

It takes less than three seconds for the gate to open and close and you can clearly hear the release of high-pressure air during the process, he said.

From his observations, there is no method to stop the control lever and open or shut the gate once the lever has been pressed up or down, he said.

When he made requests to Falconbridge about blasting procedures in ore chutes and the safety records of Payette they were provided, said Beaulieu.

Payette has successfully completed ?common core? training from Falconbridge, necessary for any miner to work underground, about three weeks before his death, said Beaulieu.

Payette has also completed training at Dome Mine in Timmins and by NORCAT in Sudbury, he said.

Under cross-examination by Falconbridge lawyer Doug Hamilton, Beaulieu agreed Payette had positioned himself on the floor underneath the ore chute and within inches of the baffle gate contrary to all training regulations.

?Would you agree he would have exposed himself right under the hang up...he did was he was trained not to do,? asked Hamilton.

?That's right,? said Beaulieu.

If convicted, Falconbridge faces a maximum fine of $500,000 on each count.

Two weeks ago, Inco Ltd. was fined over $400,000 after pleading guilty to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to the death of a veteran miner.

Inco pleaded guilty in connection to the death of Gord Heffern, who died the same day at Payette. Heffern died several days after suffering severe burns to most of his body after an oxygen line he was working on exploded.

The trial into Payette's death is expected to continue until Thursday.

Because of dozens of exhibits and hundreds of pages of documentation, Justice Guy Mahaffy is expected to take several weeks to consider the evidence before rendering a verdict.





Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.