Second worker this month injured at Agrium’s Vanscoy potash mine – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – August 23, 2016)

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A miner was airlifted to hospital in Saskatoon Sunday morning after suffering major injuries in the second underground accident this month at Agrium Inc.’s Vanscoy potash mine.

“He had serious injuries and had some surgery (Sunday) and he’s recovering from that surgery right now,” said Todd Steen, general manager of the mine, which is located about 30 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.

Details about what caused the accident will be available when an investigation is complete, but it is “not related” to the Aug. 8 incident that led to the death of 29-year-old Chad Wiklun, Steen said. “It’s very unfortunate that we had another incident here, and we want to make sure we don’t have any more, and we want to make sure we get to the bottom of these.”

A STARS air ambulance responded to a call at 10:57 a.m. Sunday, and subsequently flew a patient with a “medical emergency” to hospital in Saskatoon, according to a spokeswoman for the organization.

A spokeswoman for the provincial Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety said in an email that its operational health and safety branch is “reviewing” the accident, and that the ministry could not provide further comment.

The miner underwent surgery late Sunday and is expected to recover from his injuries, according to Darrin Kruger, president of United Steelworkers Local 7552, which represents workers at the mine.

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