By Keith Lacey
Underground miners in charge of hooking up hazardous explosive blasts should be the person who ignite or detonate the blast or ?fires the shot."
That was expected to be the key recommendation made by a four-man, one-woman coroner?s inquest jury Friday following the death of an experienced Inco miner three years ago.
James Plummer was killed around 1:15 am at Inco?s Copper Cliff South Mine April 7, 1999.
The coroner?s jury had not made its final recommendations by Northern Life press time Friday, but several witnesses and several members with standing at the inquest urged the jury to recommend a procedure of ?he or she who wires, must fire? any secondary underground blast.
Plummer and his partner Joanne Muldoon were working a 12-hour shift as crusher operators at the 4,000-level of the mine.
The crusher?a massive piece of machinery used to crush large pieces of ore and oxidized muck into smaller pieces?had become jammed in its jaws with a huge chunk of ore.
After trying a water hose and huge hook and crane to try and dislodge the chunk, Plummer made the call to use explosives known in the mining business as ?cone packs? to blast out the chunk so production could continue.
In his closing submissions, Bob Bainbridge, a health and safety expert with Local 6500 of the United Steelworkers of America, told the jury that Plummer?s death ?was an accident waiting to happen...the system failed Jim...I want you to come back with recommendations so a similar accident won?t happen again.?
He urged the jury to recommend all workers who set explosive devices be the person to set the blast after it?s confirmed all areas near a blast are cleared and guarded.
If it?s impossible for the person who wire the shots to fire the shot, there should be a detailed written procedure on all blasting, clearing and guarding procedures, said Bainbridge.
Other recommendations made by Bainbridge and other members with standing at the inquest included:
* When radios are used for communication in blasting procedures no blast can be set or detonated unless full first and last names are used between underground crews detailing location and confirmation all areas have been cleared. This procedure should be written and put together with the assistance of a joint health and safety committee.
* Rules and regulations for blasting, guarding and clearing should be industry-wide and not just for Inco Ltd. operations or South Mine.
* Employers should only allow ?competent? workers to be involved in any secondary blasting, guarding and clearing procedures.
* All written blasting, clearing and guarding procedures should be monitored and upgraded on an annual basis between management and a joint health and safety committee.
