The Ministry of Labour will enforce new regulations on Jan. 1 that Ontario's chief prevention officer expects will make underground mining safer across the province.
George Gritziotis, the province's chief prevention officer and chair of the 15-month Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review, was in Sudbury on Wednesday to announce amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act's regulation 854, which covers mines and mining plants.
Gritziotis announced the amendments on the fifth anniversary of the tragedy in Sudbury's Stobie Mine, on June 8, 2011, that killed Jordan Fram, 26, and Jason Chenier, 35.
Both men were killed in a run of muck at the 3,000-foot level of Vale's Stobie Mine.
Fram and Chenier's deaths spearheaded the Ministry of Labour's review of mining health and safety practices, thanks in part to a strong push from the United Steelworkers and the Mining Inquiry Needs Everyone's Support (MINES) group, which included Fram's mother Wendy Fram, and sister Briana Fram, as members.
In April 2015, the review made 18 recommendations to improve health and safety conditions in Ontario's underground mines.
They included requiring employers to have formal water management programs to reduce hazards related to excess water in areas where miners are working; enhancing ground control protection to track and monitor seismic activity; mandating the Ministry of Labour to partner with employers and labour to conduct regular mining sector risk assessments.
More than a year later Gritziotis announced the Occupational Health and Safety Act amendments, which will require employers to have written programs for water management, traffic management and ground control underground.
The programs would need to include ways to avoid hazards in the different areas they cover.
A water management program, for example, would need to identify areas in a mine where water is likely to accumulate and outline ways to control the volume of water that enters a mine.
Ground control and water management were key issues that led to the run of muck that killed Fram and Chenier in 2011.
“Today is a significant day,” Gritziotis said. “I like to say that tragedy has turned into something positive for the future.”
Gritziotis said the Ministry of Labour's main focus will be on prevention, and to give mining company the support and tools they need to adhere to the new regulations.
He said most employers “get it” and take the health and safety of their workers seriously, but enforcement, through several Ministry of Labour inspector blitzes per year, will be used to bring those that don't comply with the rules into line.
Wendy Fram, who attended Wednesday's announcement, said she is happy about the regulatory amendments.
“Changes have to be made so it never happens to anyone else again,” she said.
The announcement came on a difficult day for her family.
“You always feel that void in your heart that someone is not there, and he should be there,” Fram said.
Gritziotis announced additional amendments to legislation, which come into effect July 1, will give employers more flexibility to build barriers around mining conveyor belts, and will update the training requirements for surface diamond drilling.
