Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn will release the province's final report on its Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review Wednesday morning, confirmed the Ministry of Labour.
Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault is scheduled to accompany Flynn for the announcement at 8:30 a.m.
The Ministry of Labour will release the report at Workplace Safety North's annual Mining Health and Safety Conference in Sudbury.
George Gritziotis, Ontario's chief prevention officer, and chair of mining health and safety review, is scheduled to speak at the conference later that morning. Gritziotis will discuss the final report's recommendations and its implications with a crowd of industry stakeholders.
The United Steelworkers, and the Mining Inquiry Needs Everyone's Support (MINES) committee originally advocated for a mining health and safety inquiry, but later agreed to the province's plans for a review instead.
The push for an inquiry came after the June 8, 2011, mining deaths of Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier, who were killed in a run of muck at the 3,000-foot level of Vale's Stobie Mine.
The mining health and safety review launched in January 2014, and focused on a wide range of areas, including: how technological advances impact mine safety; assessing current health and safety regulations; examining education and training of mine workers and supervisors to identify health and safety-related skills shortages and gaps; and ensuring appropriate ground stability and water management practices methods are used.
In September 2014 the review released a progress report that featured a number of recommendations and initiatives to help improve mining health and safety.
The progress report implemented best practice guidelines for high-visibility apparel in the mining sector.
The Ministry of Labour took cues from the construction sector, and created new guidelines for bright and visible clothing.
The progress report also described Ministry of Labour support for two mining health and safety research projects.
The first was the creation of the Ontario Mining Exposure Database. The ministry reached out to the Occupational Cancer Research Centre to build a database that will track incidents of illness and miners' exposure to a number carcinogenic substances.
The second was funding for research on foot-transmitted vibrations in underground mining environments by Laurentian University's Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH).
The Ministry of Labour announced it had granted CROSH more than $100,000 in funding 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.
Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review's various working groups – on skills and training, mining hazards and technology – are scheduled to provide overviews of the final report's recommendations during breakout sessions at the Mining Health and Safety Conference Thursday.
