Mine Safety

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario´s mining industry improved its safety performance in 2008 from 2007, according to provisional numbers, which have been released by the Mines and Aggregates Safety and Health Association (MASHA).  This keeps mining on track as one of the safest industries in the province.  Mining´s safety record outpaces sectors such as manufacturing, services, forestry, construction, health care, municipal workers, agriculture and transportation.

The mining industry´s lost time injury rate for 2008 was 0.6 per 200,000 hours worked, which is a 25% improvement compared with the lost time injury rate of 0.8 per 200,000 for 2007.  While this moves the sector closer to zero, there was some slippage in another safety benchmark.  The total medical injury frequency rose to 7.5 per 200,000 hours worked in 2008, compared with 7.1 per 200,0000 hours worked in 2007 — a 6% increase.   However, the severity of those incidents showed a marked improvement of 60%.  In 2008, the severity of injuries was reduced to 54 days from 136 days in 2007. 

Ontario mining´s sector has been steadily becoming safer for decades.  The 2008 lost time injury rate of 0.6 per 200,000 hours is an 87% improvement compared with the lost time injury rate of 4.7 per 200,000 hours in 1985.  Credit for these stronger safety performances reside on the shoulders of every individual who works in the industry.  The statistics are moving in the right direction because of the personal diligence on the safety front and concern for oneself and his and her colleagues.  There are a number of initiatives and institutions supporting these gains.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

For the first half of 2008, the Ontario mining industry´s safety performance was holding steady keeping the sector among the three safest industries in Ontario.  For the first six months of 2008, the mining industry had a lost time injury rate of 0.6 per 200,000 hours worked, which is the same as the first six months of 2007.  The total medical injury frequency for the first six months of 2008, at 7.4 per 200,000 hours worked, is up slightly from the rate of 6.7 for the January to June 2007 period.  The severity of injuries remains virtually the same at 16 days for the first half of 2008, compared with 15 days for the first half of 2007.

According to numbers from the Mines and Aggregates Safety and Health Association (MASHA), the mining sector´s safety prevention organization, and similar organizations representing other industries, mining´s safety record would not quite match, but be in line with, the top performing electrical and education sectors.  Mining´s safety performance, however, would rank ahead of sectors such as manufacturing, services, forestry, construction, health care, municipal workers, farming and transportation.   

The Ontario mining industry´s lost time injury rate for 2007 was 0.8 per 200,000 hours worked.  The industry has been steadily improving over the decades on this incident frequency, which stood at 4.7 in 1985.  Credit for these stronger safety performances resides on the shoulders of every individual who works in the industry.  These statistics are moving in the right direction because of the personal diligence on the safety front and concern for oneself and his and her colleagues.  There are a number of initiatives and institutions supporting these gains.

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This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.
    
Xstrata Nickel´s Fraser/Thayer Lindsley mine rescue team captured the top prize in the 2008 competition, which was held in Sudbury. Let´s applaud all team members in earning the coveted gold helmets as overall competition winners. This team earned first place overall as well as in the team firefighting and team first aid categories. The competition was held in Onaping at the NORCAT Training Centre, which is the former Fecunis Mine.

“Congratulations to the members of the Fraser/Thayer Lindsley team. They were outstanding representatives of both Xstrata Nickel and the Sudbury District with their performance,” said Mike Romaniuk, Vice President of Sudbury Operations for Xstrata Nickel. “This is a clear demonstration of the quality of our mine rescue program and the commitment of all employees to ensuring the health and safety of our workers.”

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