Posts Categorized As: Engineering Standards

Blog Post #25 – Miners Were Never Alerted To the Danger

An alarm system that could have warned three workers about dangerous water levels was disconnected when they drowned at a Quebec mine, last October 30, 2009. The company, Metanor Resources Ltd., sent the three miners down the shaft in an elevator at the Bachelor Lake gold mine in Desmaraisville, Quebec. They were there to help rehabilitate a mine shaft. The miners entered the cage on the six level and headed toward the 12th but encountered water about halfway through the 10th level. The elevator operator grew concerned when the workers did not signal that they reached their destination.

It took rescue workers three days to recover the miners, whose bodies were frozen in blocks of ice.

Continue Reading

Blog Post #10 – Confined Space Entry – Ontario Reg. 632/05 “2nd in Series”

A Co-ordination Document

In a Confined Space with multi-employer involvement, rules are applied if the workers of more than one employer perform work in the same confined space or related work with respect to the same confined space. Before any worker enters the confined space or begins related work with respect to the confined space, the lead employer shall prepare a co-ordination document to ensure that the duties imposed on employers are performed in a way that protects the health and safety of all workers in or around the confined space. The co-ordination document may provide for the performance of a duty or duties by one or more employers on behalf of one or more of the employers, with respect to some or all of the workers.

A copy of the co-ordination document shall be provided to:

a) Each employer of workers who perform work in the same confined space; and
b) The JHSC or Health & Safety representative, if any, for each employer of workers who perform work in the same confined space.

Continue Reading