At approximately 2:30 AM this morning, the Haul Truck operator of 84 truck was pulling into the highwall side pocket at #5 crusher when the truck dropped down on the front left side. The driver was nearly at a complete stop to back up when the trucked dropped, alarms sounded in the cab, so the operator shut down the truck and called control.
The operator then got out to investigate, finding that the front left suspension cylinder had completely sheared off, which in turn made the tire end up partially under the haul truck. The operator was taken to first aid as a precaution, but was uninjured. The scene was secured and frozen until this morning, when the OHCES committee members could inspect the scene and release it. There is currently a plan being developed to safely recover the truck. This incident was designated as a DO (Dangerous Occurrence), which we are glad to see, as the potential for what could have happened at speed could have been devastating. The front left cylinder is over 12 inches wide, with a 4 inch steel wall. The OSHEC will fully inspect and investigate how and why the cylinder failed, prior to sitting the DO investigation. It's good to hear that everything was done correctly in this case, as on the 19th, a grader tire sheered off while going down a ramp, and that scene was not secured nor any safety rep was called out. The foreman seemed to think that this was relatively normal, and stated that he had to get it out of the way. The Mines Code and the CBA speak directly to incident and accident investigations, for if incidents do not get investigated, we do not get a chance to figure out what went wrong, and how to ensure they never happen again. We have had a pretty busy month with back injury's again, with several being reported to first aid in the last two weeks, and we are starting an investigation on why they are not being investigated. 3 out of the 4 that we looked into had no investigation, and we would like to remind you that by not reporting injury's and incidents, we will not be able to force the Company to repair the roads to an acceptable level. There seems to be an attitude that they are not happening, and an acceptance to allow employees to get injured, then just find more to replace them. (Casuals anyone?) As always, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. It's a law that was put in place after the Westray disaster in 1992, when 26 miners were killed in an explosion. 11 of their bodies were never recovered. The Steelworkers have fought for over 25 years to put laws in place to hold Companies accountable to their decisions to put employees in harms way, and every year, employees perish at their work places. The numbers are staggering, and we continue to get lucky. Any one of these incidents could lead to a major injury, and with the new push for more speed and more weight, everything compounds. You have a right to refuse those speeds, weights, bad road conditions, and poor decisions, as you have a responsibility to go home to your families every day. Any questions, please contact your safety rep, area rep or the Union Co-Chair for the OSHEC Committee Not trying to down play the severity of this issue, as the Union is very concerned about the possible outcome, Kyle was actively discussing the current safety culture at Highland Valley Copper with key Company representatives at the same time this incident happened today. At approx. 1:30PM, a shovel operator was attempting to load out a very large frost chunk that was in the dig face. The shovel operator told the haul truck operator to "hang on" and opened the shovel door. The load got stuck, and the operator tried to shake it loose. When the chunk did come out, it landed off center in the box of the haul truck, with enough of an impact it nearly flipped the haul truck on its side. Witness's said that the 240 ton truck stood up on it's two tires, before coming back to rest on all four tires. The employee inside the haul truck was jarred severely, making hard contact on their temple on the Wenco panel, as well as being thrown violently around the truck. Luckily, the operator was wearing a seat belt and the truck did not end up on its side. The operator was sent to medical aid, and then to ER for a follow up in Kamloops, and was released tonight. The Union has discussed the issue with all three safety reps on the crew, and not one of them was contacted after the event. As far as we know, the scene was not locked down, there was no investigation, and no safety rep was called to attend what the Union is calling a Near Hit. The potential for the truck to flip over was real, and if it had done so, the outcome could have been much more severe. On top of this, there was serious enough injury to the employee to send them both to medical aid and ER, it is only prudent to secure the scene and investigate this very serious issue. With the scene not being locked down, it make's nearly impossible to re-create the event, get statements from witnesses, investigate fully and make recommendations to ensure this does not happen again. This is not the first time an employee has been injured while being loaded, and no investigation was sat. Not only will the OSHEC committee not be able to make recommendations about ways to decrease or eliminate the issue, it makes it very hard to prove that the injury sustained actually happened at site, which has lead to WCB not accepting a work place injury. At this time, we remind all employees their responsibility to refuse unsafe work. We also remind all employees to report unsafe acts, or situations that are not being reported. It makes it extremely difficult to fix problems that are not reported. Please report any injury sustained on site immediately to your foreman and attend first aid. The Union will be launching a full investigation tomorrow to find out why an investigation was not done. ------------Safety is Ours------------- United Steel Workers Local 7619 OSHEC Committee |
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October 2018
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