19 fatalities in 1987 prompt committee probe

After one of the worst years for mining fatalities in recent memory, a committee of mining, government and union representatives is looking at ways to make the industry more safety conscious.

The Canadian mining industry reported 19 deaths in various accidents last year — the highest number since 1980.

Nearly eight months after four workers were killed at Inco Ltd.’s Levack mine in Sudbury, Ont., the company was hit last week with the highest fine ($60,000) ever levied against an employer under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In a bid to prevent what is seen as an alarming number of fatalities from occurring again in 1988, the mining industry’s Fatalities Committee met with Ontario government officials in Toronto recently.

With a mandate to develop an understanding of how these fatalities occurred and to develop effective controls, the committee has met several times since it was formed in June, 1987.

At the latest meeting in the Ontario legislature building Jan 27, Chairman Robert Brailey told a Standing Committee on Resource Development that the Fatalities Committee is attempting to pursue four major initiatives. They include: Nuclear industry

* Fail Safe: A process which assumes that accidents will happen and therefore attempts to present counter-action eliminating or reducing the results of the accident.

First developed in Britain after 30 workers died during a nuclear industry accident in 1969, the discipline is used extensively by organizations like Imperial Chemical Industries.

* Statistical Analysis: Due to the difficulty of interpreting available data, the committee has retained McMaster University professor Harry Shannon to study and report on mining fatalities during the past 12 years.

“We hope that Dr Shannon will offer additional insights into the causes of fatal accidents and give direction for other initiatives,” said Brailey.

* Internal Responsibility System: As part of the cornerstone of its activities, the committee is supporting a project to develop modules to prepare mine employees for the introduction and implementation of systems of internal responsibility.

“An interesting side effect of this project is an already improved and enlarged awareness across the industry of the internal responsibility system and its values,” Brailey said.

* Attitude and Culture: As part of a pilot project to study the attitudes of mine employees toward safety, the Ontario Ministry of Labor will send a behavioral scientist to one of the big mines in Timmins, Ont. Focus groups

According to Victor Pakalnis director, Mining Health and Safety Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Dr Terry Goldberg will work with a number of focus groups in a bid to improve attitudes toward safety.

In a similar project which looked at ways to persuade residents of the area to wear safety belts, scientists found that local teenagers were more likely to buckle up after they were shown pictures of disfigured accident victims.

“We will attempt to find out what kind of incentives are needed to make mine workers more safety conscious,” said Pakalnis.

The Fatalities Committee, which consists of a number of prominent mining and union representatives including Henry Brehaut, senior vice-president operations for Dome, Campbell, and Richard Briggs, president of the Mine Mill Smelter Worker’s Union, is not the first body to look at safety measures in Ontario mines.

After four workers were killed by a rockburst at the Falconbridge mine near Sudbury in 1984, a provincial inquiry looked at ground control and emergency preparedness in Ontario mines. Medical aids

However the current committee is particularly concerned that the latest fatalities increase has occurred while the rate of medical aids and lost time accidents has decreased.

“It doesn’t seem logical that we are experiencing more fatalities while non-fatal accidents are actually decreasing,” said Pakalnis.

Following the Fatalities Committee meeting, the Standing Committee on Resource Development is expected to report back to the Ontario legislature.