Interim mining safety report recommends immediate changes.

• Author: Migneault, Jonathan

The provincial government's mining safety review board released a progress report that makes four immediate health and safety changes for the mining sector.

"We don't want anybody else to suffer a fatality in mining," said Labour Minister Kevin Flynn, in releasing the interim report Sept. 10 in Sudbury.

The first initiative was the implementation of new best practices guidelines for high-visibility apparel in the mining sector.

"We learned that new technologies and new equipment are causing problems with worker visibility in mines," said Flynn, referring to the health and safety review process that began last January.

The ministry took cues from the construction sector by creating new guidelines for bright and visible clothing.

"Our mine inspectors will now refer to them when determining if a workplace is taking all the necessary precautions for the safety of workers," Flynn said.

George Gritziotis, Ontario's chief prevention officer, and the chair of review board, said the high-visibility apparel is a guideline for now, but could be backed by regulation when the final report is released in early 2015.

"What most employers would like to be doing is getting prepared for something that could potentially become a likelihood for regulation," Gritziotis said.

The ministry also updated its joint health and safety committee certification training program to focus on a minimum of six hazards and to strengthen the industry's internal responsibility system.

The progress report also outlined ministry support for two mining health and safety research projects.

The first is the creation of the Ontario Mining Exposure Database. The ministry reached out to the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) to build a database that will track incidents of illness and miners' exposure to a number of carcinogenic substances.

The database will help the industry prevent exposure to dangerous substances and predict the future risk of disease among workers.

The ministry also provided funding back in July to Laurentian University's Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) for a specific area of study.

CROSH received two grants - one for $58,836 and the other for $49, 861 - to develop an inexpensive tool that can measure a worker's exposure to vibrations, and work on protective equipment, such as mats and special boots, to reduce vibrations.

CROSH director Tammy Eger said vibrations while working at underground drill platforms can lead to...