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Mining Tragedies

Day of Mourning: Labour vows to ‘fight for the living’ – by Connor Pringle (Sudbury Star – April 29, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Workers who were killed, injured or suffered illnesses from workplace conditions were mourned Tuesday during the 31st Annual Day of Mourning hosted by The Sudbury and District Labour Council and United Steel Workers Local 6500.

The Annual Day of Mourning recognizes workers killed, injured and who suffered illnesses while on the job.

“It’s a day to make a commitment to protect the living and to prevent future injuries and fatalities,” said Alain Arseneault, co-chair of maintenance/electrical for the Health, Safety and Environment Committee.

The day started 31 years ago, according to Arseneault, with April 28 chosen as that is the date the Ontario government proclaimed the first comprehensive Workers Compensation Act in Canada.

The Sudbury region was the first region to declare April 28 as the official Day of Mourning in Canada and across the world. The Steelworkers local says 44 deaths have occurred on company property since the first Day of Mourning.

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Industrial deaths: Testimony painful at Chenier, Fram inquest – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 28, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Day 6 of the inquest into the June 8, 2011 deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram at Vale’s Stobie Mine moved into painful and sensitive territory Monday.

After a morning and an hour in the afternoon of technical testimony by Ministry of Labour inspectors, assistant crown attorney Rebecca Bald told the inquest jury the causes of death for the two men.

Thirty-five-year-old Chenier died of smothering, compressional asphyxia and blunt-force injuries, according to forensic pathologist Dr. Martin Queen, said Bald. The cause of death for Fram, 26, was smothering and compressional axphixia, said the lawyer, one of two assistant crown attorneys acting as counsel to presiding coroner Dr. David Eden.

Members of the Fram and Chenier families have attended every day of the inquest, sitting in the front rows of courtroom A at the Sudbury courthouse.

The inquest has heard the men were overcome by an explosive and violent run of hundreds of ton of muck – broken ore, sand, slimes and water – that was hung up in No. 7 ore pass, then burst through a control gate where they were working.

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Sudbury inquest: Stobie conditions ‘very, very wet’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 25, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

If he had seen conditions like those he witnessed after a run-of-muck incident at Vale’s Stobie Mine in 2011, he would have issued a stop-work order to cease production, said a Ministry of Labour mining inspector.

Will Thomson testified at Day 5 of a coroner’s inquest into the June 8, 2011, deaths of two men at Stobie that he had never seen water conditions as bad as those since beginning in the mining industry as a student in 1989.

Thomson testified before a two-man, three woman jury Friday, saying water and muck was five feet deep on one level, and sand, slimes and water mixed with broken ore covered levels of the century-old mine.

Thomson had only been “badged” as a Labour ministry inspector since March of the year Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram were killed in a run of tons of muck while working at the 3000-foot level of Stobie, near the No. 7 ore pass.

Thomson had worked for Vale for 15 years, eight of them at Stobie, in logistics on the muck circuit in the mine’s A division. He was the on-call mining inspector June 9, 2011, at 12:15 a.m., when he was contacted about the incident in Stobie Mine’s B division.

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[Mining death inquiry] Muck shocked Sudbury mining veteran – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 24, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Mark Bardswich has worked for Vale for 20 years, but had never been to Stobie Mine until late the night of June 8, 2011.

The operations control centre supervisor at Vale’s Totten Mine, he’s a long-time member of Ontario Mine Rescue, an organization that trains and equips volunteers to respond to mine accidents and disasters.

Bardswich was awakened about 10:45 p.m. June 8, and called to an incident at Stobie Mine. He got there by 11:30 p.m. and met with other mine rescuers.

He was told three people were missing and unaccounted for. Bardswich was assigned captain of a second rescue team, and by the time it got to the 3,000-foot level, he knew two men were involved and the body of one had been recovered. Bardswich moved along the level toward the No. 7 ore pass, through sticky mud.

“Looking around, I couldn’t believe it,” Bardswich testified at the fourth day of the inquest into the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram. The men were killed by a run of muck at the 3,000 level of Stobie Mine near the No. 7 ore pass about 9:45 p.m.

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‘Something wasn’t right’ — Sudbury inquest [mining deaths] – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 23, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Two of the last men to see Jordan Fram alive testified about their encounters with him on the third day of the coroner’s inquest into his death and that of his supervisor, Jason Chenier.

Fram, 26, and Chenier, 35, were killed about 9:45 p.m. on June 8, 2011, at the 3,000-foot level of Vale’s Stobie Mine, near the No. 7 ore pass. They were overcome by an uncontrolled run of 350 tons of muck.

There are two divisions at Stobie. Luke St. Amand was a supervisor at division A, which was sharing the no. 7 ore pass that day with division B, where Chenier and Fram were working.

St. Amant was working the day the men were killed and had met Chenier on surface. He testified Chenier didn’t say anything about water, although Chenier had sent two emails to superiors about hazards in the days before the tragedy.

He and Chenier didn’t talk about double barricades, said St. Amant, although Chenier had mentioned in his emails they had been erected to block unsafe areas, the inquest has heard.

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Could have used more training: Superintendent – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 22, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Looking back to June 8, 2011, Keith Birnie said he would have liked to have had more training for his role as superintendent at Vale’s Stobie Mine.

Birnie had only been on the job four weeks when supervisor Jason Chenier, 35, and hourly worker Jordan Fram, 26, were killed by an uncontrolled run of muck while working on the 3,000-foot level of the mine near the No. 7 ore pass.

Earlier that day, Birnie had toured the mine with friend and mentor Larry Lauzon, a retired mining superintendent at Stobie Mine whom Birnie said was “coaching” him about safety. He invited Lauzon in “as a different set of eyes” to help him do his job more effectively.

Birnie, who now works in a different capacity for Vale, testified at the second day of a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Chenier and Fram.

The two-man, three-woman jury heard that water was an ongoing issue at the 100-year-old mine. Because of large indentations on surface from two defunct open-pit mines, water pours into Stobie from above and seeps in from below.

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Safety record at mines makes trust scarce – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 21, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A mining health and safety conference last week seemed far removed from the June 8, 2011 deaths of two men at Vale’s Frood-Stobie Complex in Sudbury.

In a conference room at a Sudbury hotel, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn presented the final report of the mining health, safety and prevention review with 18 recommendations to improve mine safety. One was that mining companies be required to have detailed water management programs.

The review was prompted by the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram, who were overcome by a run of 350 tonnes of muck at the 900-metre level of the century-old mine. A mandatory inquest into their deaths began Monday.

A run of muck is an uncontrolled — and in this case violent — release of water, blasted rock, ore and sand. It engulfed Chenier, 35, and Fram, 26, as they were trying to determine what had caused the material to clog an ore pass above where they were working. According to three investigations and the counsel to the inquest coroner, the incident never should have occurred.

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Sudbury mine deaths ‘should not have happened’ – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 21, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Before an inquest jury heard about how two Sudbury men died on the job, an assistant Crown attorney talked about how the men lived.

Susan Bruce, who along with assistant Crown Roberta Bald is serving as counsel to presiding coroner Dr. David Eden, told the two-man, three-woman jury Monday what kind of men Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, were.

The two were killed June 8, 2011, at Vale’s Stobie Mine when they were overcome by a run of 350 tons of muck — rock, water and sand — while working at the mine’s 3,000-foot level near the No. 7 ore shaft. A mandatory inquest is being held into their deaths. It is scheduled for two weeks, but could end sooner because some witnesses who would have given similar testimony have been written off the list.

Chenier, a supervisor at Stobie, was the husband of Tracy and father of two children, aged 6 and 7. He loved family activities such as fishing, hiking and skiing, and built his children “an elaborate play centre from scratch,” not from a kit at a department store, Bruce told the jury.

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Highly anticipated Sudbury inquest opens Monday – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 20, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Vale Ltd. officials say they can’t turn back the clock to before June 8, 2011, when two workers were killed at the company’s Stobie Mine.

But they said they hope the families of Jason Chenier, 35, and Jordan Fram, 26, find some comfort “in the significant work done since that night to ensure this kind of tragedy never occurs again.”

Vale issued the statement three days before the start Monday of a coroner’s investigation into the men’s death. Regional supervising coroner Dr. David Eden will preside at the inquest, at which a five-member jury will hear evidence from several witnesses at what is expected to be a 10-day hearing.

Vale said in its statement that the purpose of the inquest is to review the circumstances around the fatality so that future deaths can be prevented.

Chenier and Fram died after being overcome by a run of 350 tons of muck while they were working at the 3,000-foot level of the mine.

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Sudbury smelter charges no surprise — union – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 1, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

A committee of representatives from Vale Ltd. and United Steelworkers Local 6500 is working to ensure the 58 recommendations from a joint investigation into the death last year of a millwright are implemented and that history doesn’t repeat.

Mike Bond, chair of health and safety for USW Local 6500, said some progress has been made to resolve issues at the Copper Cliff Smelter Complex, where Paul Rochette, 36, was killed April 6, 2014, while working on an ore crusher.

Monday, the Ministry of Labour announced it had laid 17 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to Rochette’s death. Nine were laid against Vale Canada Ltd. and eight were laid against two supervisors, and a third supervisor who was classified as a worker at the time.

The charges against Vale relate to ensuring work was done properly, that workers were educated and trained, and that safeguards were put in place to keep pieces of machines in place.

Bond said no one who knew anything about the situation at the smelter complex last year was surprised so many charges were laid.

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Vale, Sudbury employees charged – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 31, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The Ministry of Labour has laid nine charges against Vale Canada Ltd. and eight charges against three company employees in the April 6, 2014, death of millwright Paul Rochette at Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter Complex.

Rochette, 36, died from injuries to the head after a large piston or moil operating under pressure, crushing ingots of nickel under pressure, released from an area of a processing system at the smelter.

A second man, 28, who has never been identified, also suffered injuries to the face and head. Vale has been charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act with failing to:

– Ensure that while work was being done on the Farrel crusher, any gravity stored energy was dissipated or contained;

– Ensure that while work was being done on the Farrel crusher, all energy isolating devices were properly engaged, locked and tagged;

– Provide information, instruction and supervision to workers on a safe procedure to remove a broken moil point from the jaws of the Farrel crusher;

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China Cuts Coal Mine Deaths, But Count in Doubt – by Michael Lelyveld (Radio Free Asia – March 16, 2015)

http://www.rfa.org/english/

China has announced continuing progress in reducing coal mine fatalities, although doubts remain about death counts and cover-ups in one of the most dangerous industries in the world.

On March 10, the director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) told a Beijing press conference that coal mine accidents claimed 931 lives last year, as the death toll dropped below 1,000 for the first time.

“The situation has been greatly improved,” said the SAWS director, Yang Dongliang, according to Agence France-Presse. Speaking on the sidelines of China’s annual legislative sessions, Yang mixed praise for safety advances with a promise that the agency was determined to do more.

The most recent fatality figure represented an 86.7 percent decline from the toll of some 7,000 in 2002, the official Xinhua news agency reported. “The nation is still confronted with grave and complicated challenges in coal mine work safety, as the authorities aim to achieve a zero-death target,” Yang said.

There seems little doubt that China has made major steps forward in lowering the casualty count in an industry that accounts for half the world’s coal output.

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Thirty-three miners dead after pit blast in east Ukraine – by Maria Tsvetkova (Reuters U.S.A.- March 4, 2015)

http://www.reuters.com/

DONETSK, Ukraine – (Reuters) – Thirty-three miners were confirmed dead late on Wednesday after a coal mine blast in the rebel-held city of Donetsk near the battle front in eastern Ukraine, indicating no one trapped in the rubble survived.

Mine officials said the explosion was most likely caused by gas and not fighting in the war between Moscow-backed rebels and Ukraine government forces. Nevertheless, Kiev suggested the war had made the disaster worse, accusing the separatists of holding up a rescue effort by restricting access.

Outside the gates of the Zasyadko mine, about 30 relatives clamored for information about any survivors. Sergei Baldayev, a miner injured in the blast, mingled with the crowd, his face covered in scratches and one arm hanging motionless by his side, the result of a broken collarbone.

The sister of one miner who was in the pit at the time of the explosion, Alexei Novoselsky, stood in tears. “Tell me, are there survivors? Why are you concealing the truth?” she asked as a rescue worker tried to calm her. The Donetsk regional administration said 16 injured people were in hospital.

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Inquest into Fram, Chenier mining deaths called for April 8 – by Ben Leeson (Sudbury Star – January 7, 2015)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Briana Fram knows the coroner’s inquest into the death of her brother, Jordan Fram, and Jason Chenier will a difficult time for her family, but hopes it will result in a safer workplace for those who work in mines.

Dr. Reuven Jhirad, deputy chief coroner of the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, announced Tuesday that an inquest will be held into the deaths of Fram, 26, and Chenier, 35, both killed at the 3,000-foot level of Vale’s Stobie Mine when they were overcome by a run of muck on June 8, 2011.

Inquests into workplace deaths are mandatory in Ontario. “With tragedy, often good emerges,” Briana Fram said. “We’re hopeful that this inquest will bring results that will prevent deaths in the future and protect the lives of miners and people that work in mines.”

Dr. David Eden will preside as inquest coroner. Susan Bruce and Roberta Bald will be counsel to the coroner. The inquest will be at the Sudbury Courthouse, 155 Elm St. in Sudbury, beginning on April 20 at 9 a.m. and is expected to last 10 days, according to the chief coroner’s office.

The inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding the Stobie accident and the inquest jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths from occurring.

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Turkey’s miners pay a deadly price for cheap coal – by Piotr Zalewski (Financial Times – November 27, 2014)

http://www.ft.com/intl/companies/mining

In parts of Istanbul, as in most Turkish cities, you can smell the coming of winter before you properly feel it. Just as the first cold spell arrives, a woolly, sour blanket of smoke, pumped into the air from coal-fired furnaces, settles over the city’s poor neighbourhoods.

Turks are noticeably better off than a decade ago, but with the prospect of high natural gas bills, many still rely on coal to heat their homes. More than 2m families rely on the state to provide it for free.

Under a programme launched by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party in 2003, a government agency hands out about 2m tons of coal to underprivileged families each year.

For a country that depends on imports for roughly 70 per cent of its rapidly growing energy needs, coal appears to be both part of the solution and part of the problem.

Over the next decade, Turkey’s government plans to increase the share of coal in electricity production, from 25 to 30 per cent. To help meet its goal of total installed capacity of 120,000MWs by 2023, it also plans to tap into all the country’s coal reserves.

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