A formal Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act has affirmed that Ontario's Ministry of Labour was correct to tell Cementation Canada Inc. to stop the practice of allowing miners to stand in a scooptram bucket when loading blast holes from an elevated position.
The hearing happened because Cementation appealed the stop work order that followed a field visit by a mining inspector, who issued the original order. Cementation is well known as a mine building and development company in Canada.
This all goes back to an incident at the New Gold Mine in Rainy River that occurred in January 2022. A miner and a supervisor were working at a refuge station cut out on the 150-metre level, said the hearing transcript.
Information provided was that Cementation’s workers were performing drilling and blasting work on a daily basis and this required working at a certain height. The workers had drilled a round of blast holes and were preparing to load the holes.
"Relevant to the incident at issue here, the blasting charges that the workers were loading into the wall face of the mine at the time of the incident had to be done at a certain height and required the use of an elevated work platform," said the hearing documents.
"In brief, the incident happened when two workers, one of whom was described as a working supervisor, were loading dynamite into the wall face at the 150-metre refuge cutout. They were using the bucket of a Cat R1700G scooptram as an elevated work platform.
“As discussed later in this decision, Cementation workers can use the scooptram bucket as a platform only when so permitted by the owner of the mine. This practice was permitted at the New Gold Mine," said the hearing transcript.
In order to do this, the scoop bucket is lowered flat to the ground. The workers step into the bucket and tie themselves in using a safety lanyard. Then the bucket is raised to an elevated position allowing the workers access to the higher blast holes.
"As the workers were about to load the explosives, the scooptram operator moved the bucket into the dump position thereby dropping the two workers out of the bucket from a height of approximately three metres (9.8 feet). One of the workers was tied off and sustained only minor injuries said to be consistent with the use of fall protection, although he was left dangling from the bucket given the length of the lanyard used to tie off.
"The supervisor was not tied off and fell to the ground, sustaining a critical injury; specifically, a fractured left femur and L1 vertebrae," said the transcript.
An investigation was carried out and "on Jan. 13, 2022, Inspector Roland Landry issued a stop work order pursuant to section 25(2)(h) of the Act requiring Cementation to “stop all workers from working in a scoop bucket," said the transcript.
Cementation asked the board to revoke the work order. Cementation argued that miners can indeed work safely from an elevated scoop bucket provided that precautions are taken, such as the use of safety lanyards.
"Cementation says the incident was caused by negligence and/or operator error," said the transcript.
The labour ministry came back with a request asking the board to uphold the stop work order, or at the very least, to rewrite the order requiring that "equipment be used in accordance with the manufacturer’s operating manual."
The hearing heard testimony from Ministry of Labour investigator Barry Bilcowski to the effect that the manufacturer’s operating manual states that the bucket of the scooptram is not to be used as a work platform.
Steven Wrixon, vice-president of health, safety and environment for Cementation America, did not agree. According to the hearing transcript, Wrixon said that the operating manual reflects only an attempt by the manufacturer to limit its liability.
"Cementation says the incident was caused by negligence and/or operator error. According to the material before the board there is some question about whether the scooptram operator mistakenly thought he was being motioned to dump the bucket or whether he fell asleep. The scooptram operator’s employment was terminated for alleged just cause," said the hearing transcript.
The transcript also revealed that no evidence was provided on how or why the bucket dumped the workers, resulting in one worker suffering serious injuries.
During the hearing, there was evidence that other equipment was available at the worksite (a scissor lift, a zoom-boom) at the time of the incident, but it was in use elsewhere on the mine property.
"Cementation makes the point that the use of a scooptram bucket was permitted at the New Gold Mine and, in accordance with its own policies, subject to certain safety precautions such as being tied off," said the transcript.
Cementation argued in the hearing that working out of a scooptram bucket, where permitted by the mine owner, is in keeping with the Mining Health and Safety Guideline, “Use of Vehicle Buckets as a Working Platform” (the “Guideline”) issued on January 1981 pursuant to Ontario Regulation 854/90 and revised in August 2004.
The board also heard evidence from labour investigator Bilcowski that the “guideline” was no longer in effect when he joined the ministry in 2017.
In reaching the decision to uphold the labour inspector's order, the board said there was no solid evidence that the accident was caused by negligence or operator error. The board said it was foreseeable that any inadvertent movement of the scoop controls could cause an accident and that a scoop bucket is just not designed for people working at heights.
"For all of the foregoing reasons, the stop work order is affirmed."
The decision was signed off by Peigi Ross, a lawyer and vice-chair of the labour board.
The full transcript of the board decision can be found online here.
Len Gillis covers mining news along with healthcare stories for Sudbury.com.
