Steelworkers Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand was close-mouthed Jan. 24 after Vale released the results of its investigation into the June 8, 2011 deaths of two miners at Stobie Mine.
The union president, who represents Vale miners, said he'll reserve his comments until the union releases the results of its own investigation, something which he says will happen “soon.”
The company and the union normally investigate workplace accidents together, but in this case, they were unable to come to an agreement about how the investigation should be conducted.
The Ministry of Labour is also conducting an investigation into the incident, and hasn't yet released its report.
“Our investigation is to see what happened, and if the Occupational Health and Safety Act was complied with,” ministry spokesperson Matt Blajer said. “It's a much more detailed process. There's nothing new to report from our end.”
Kelly Strong, Vale's vice-president of North Atlantic mining and milling operations, briefed the media Jan. 24 about the results of the company's investigation.
When a tragedy occurs, there's a “natural inclination to want to know who or what is to blame,” he said.
But when it comes to the deaths of 35-year-old Jason Chenier and 26-year-old Jordan Fram, it's not that simple, he said.
The miners were killed after about 350 tons of muck, or ore, unexpectedly entered the 3,000 foot level ore pass drift where they were working at around 9:45 p.m.
“There is no one definite answer to that question,” Strong said.
“There appears to be a number of contributing factors to the run of muck. A plan of action, including more than 30 recommendations, has been compiled to put control measures in place to control these potential causes, and they are currently being implemented.
“Our primary focus is now putting measures in place to prevent a similar incident from ever occuring.”
He said the results of the investigation have already been shared with the victims' families, and the company is in the process of sharing it with Vale workers.
Everybody at Stobie Mine was “following procedures and doing what they were supposed to do” in the days and hours leading up to the incident, he said.
One of the factors which led to the accident was a process called “remnant mining,” where some mining had been done in an old mine shaft above where the miners were working, he said.
This shaft was filled with “backfill,” or a sandy tailings material.
“You don't want some of that material mixed in with the ore as a dilutant to the ore,” Strong said. “But it does occur from time to time.”
Wet, sandy material was found in the muck which killed the miners, which led investigators to believe some of the backfill material had mixed in with the muck.
There was also some issues with “water management,” with some plugged drain holes, leading the muck to be wet.
This led to one of two scenarios, Strong said.
One scenario is that “there was a buildup of wet, fine sandy muck above the crash gate on the 3,000 level, which collapsed and drove its way down the ore pass, overtaking the two individuals.”
The other scenario is that “there was a hangup of wet, fine sandy muck above coarser material, which unexpectedly let go.”
In either scenario, it is clear that the gate at the 3,000 foot level was open, and that the ore pass was full below the 3,000 foot level, which caused the deflection upwards of the muck into the drift where Chenier and Fram were located, according to information provided by Vale.
Other factors which led to the accident include practices and procedures, roles and responsibilities for various tasks underground and training and awareness, according to Strong.
The 30 recommendations being put forward by Vale following the investigation address such things as improved practices around water management, ore mixing, ore pass management, roles and responsibilities, training and awareness, hazard recognition and risk assessment and auditing to validate the effectiveness of controls.
Strong said the company has already implemented some of these recommendations.
When asked how the Chenier and Fram families are reacting to the results of the investigation, Strong said it would be inappropriate for him to comment out of respect for their privacy.
Vale is committed to learning from the results of the other investigations of the incident, and “to considering other recommendations into our action plan that may surface as a result of those findings,” according to information provided by the company.
Posted by Arron Pickard
