The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
The project manager of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review urged a coroner’s jury to consider making recommendations that will improve safety throughout all Ontario mines, not just at Vale’s Stobie Mine or at Sudbury mining operations.
Wayne DeL’Orme was the last witness to testify at the inquest into the deaths of Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier on June 8, 2011. Chenier, 35, was a supervisor for Vale and Fram, 26, was a miner. They were killed by a run of tons of muck that had been hung up in the No. 7 ore pass, let go and swamped the 3,000 level near the pass where they were working.
DeL’Orme told the three-woman, one-man jury Thursday that the role of the mining review was to look at all aspects of health and safety in underground mines and recommend ways to improve conditions.
It was prompted by a call for a full-blown mining inquiry after the deaths of the men at Stobie. A group called MINES (Mining Inquiry Needs Everyone’s Support) lobbied for a review, led by Wendy Fram, the mother of Jordan Fram. Thousands of postcards were sent to Labour minister demanding an inquiry.