Vale Inco East Mine earned first place in the 2009 provincial mine rescue team competition, which was held in Windsor earlier this month. Let´s congratulate team members who captured the coveted gold hard hats as overall competition winners. Along with top prize in the team event, Vale Inco East Mine also earned first place in the Team Firefighting category.
FNX Mining earned second place in the team competition. In the Technician Award competition, Richard Gilbert of FNX Mining gained first place and Denis Bilodeau from Hemlo Mines took second place. Goldcorp Porcupine Mines won the First Aid event.
Windsor Salt´s Ojibway Mine, with David Church as Mine Manager, deserves much of the credit for setting up a terrific underground simulation and mine rescue problem in an old auto transmission facility for the six participating teams, who previously had won district competitions. All competitors performed well under a stressful situation. A special thanks should be given to Doug Osborne from Windsor Salt for leading his team to make this important competition a huge success.
In the competition, eight-person teams simulate a response to a crisis situation, during which they are judged on their use of field testing gear, briefings delivered to team members and the rescue simulation. Mine rescue is a specialized and provincially regulated aspect of emergency response for mining operations.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the mine rescue program in Ontario. The actual Ontario Mine Rescue competitions began in 1950 in the Porcupine area, which makes Vale Inco East Mine the winner of the 59th mine rescue competition. The mine rescue program continues as a way to ensure consistent training and use of equipment across the province, to share experiences and to improve emergency response in underground mines. The mine rescue program is administered by the Mines and Aggregates Safety and Health Association (MASHA). The 2010 event is scheduled to be held in Timmins.
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