Mine rescue teams from seven districts across Ontario have converged on the Nickel City this week for the in District Mine Rescue Competitions, which runs May 10-12.
Among those competing teams are two from the Greater Sudbury area, namely four teams and equipment technicians from the Sudbury and Onaping districts will compete at the McClelland Arena in Copper Cliff.
Representing Sudbury District are Vale West Mines and Vale East Mines. Representing Onaping District are KGHM and Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations.
The competition, organized by Ontario Mine Rescue, a part of Workplace Safety North, will test the teams’ knowledge, firefighting skills, first aid response, use of emergency equipment and decision-making ability under stress in a simulated underground emergency.
The winner of each district competition will compete in the 2017 Provincial Competition, June 7 to 9, at Compass Minerals Goderich Mine in Goderich.
Mine rescue competitions, which started in Ontario in 1950, are as much intensive learning opportunities as a chance to test emergency response capabilities. The competitions aim to ensure mine rescue volunteers across the province are trained to the same high standards.
Mine rescue team members are volunteer mine workers trained by Mine Rescue Officers to respond to all types of mine emergencies including fires, explosions and falls of ground.
Under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and headquartered in Sudbury, Ontario Mine Rescue staffs, equips and maintains a network of mine rescue stations across the province that ensure mines within a specified geographic area have adequate emergency response capability.
Ontario Mine Rescue is a part of Workplace Safety North, which provides products and services to promote workplace health and safety in the mining, forestry, and paper, printing and converting industries, as well as workplaces across Ontario.
