Helicopter Transportation is Still a Major Safety Issue for Canadian Mining Companies - Canadian Mineral Exploration Health & Safety Annual Report 2006

The second Canadian Mineral Exploration Annual Health and Safety Report for 2006 is now available on the internet. It makes interesting reading in comparison to the 2005 report which was reviewed in this publication a little less than 2 years ago.

Just to refresh your memory, these surveys were started in 1982 in British Columbia, by the BC Association of Mineral Exploration (AME BC), formerly the British Columbia and Yukon Chamber of Mines. This broader, Canada-wide survey has been conducted by the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and picks up on the BC experience. The object is to track existing health and safety trends across the country and to increase awareness for the future.

Committee Chairs, Ian Paterson from the AME BC and Bill Mercer, PDAC have produced another comprehensive document that should be examined by every geoscientist. To access it, go to the home page of the Prospectors and Developers Association at www.pdac.ca.

The number of participants for this second report is still discouraging. A total of 920 exploration companies were contacted - considerably more than last year's number of 557 - of which only 88 actually participated. In other words, the participation rate of 10% for 2006 is down from the previous unimpressive rate of 16% for 2005.

Unfortunately, the one thing that did not decrease from 2005 was the number of fatalities. The year 2006 is the worst year for exploration fatalities since 1988. And as before, the majority are due to helicopter incidents. Six of the eight Canadian mineral industry deaths for 2006 were helicopter related. (Only two of these tragedies were actually reported to this survey.) Causes were attributed to pilot error, mistakes by personnel on the ground, and mechanical failure. The other two fatal incidents were caused by bear mauling and drowning. The final half of the report is devoted to recommendations to improve accident prevention.

In fairness to the mining exploration companies, it is important to consider that most of them use specialty air transport companies for their helicopter needs. As such, these accidents are not the sole responsibility of the mining industry. One of the recommendations made by the authors, is that great care should be exercised in the choice of contractors.

As well, two hopeful trends can be observed in this report. Although participation on a company by company basis was poor, many of those who did participate were the bigger players in the industry, representing some 30% of the exploration money spent in Canada. As well, an increasing number of companies are answering 'yes' to the question "Does your organization have a Health and Safety Program?" - 63% for 2006 compared to 49% last year. Hopefully these programs will result in improved safety statistics in future years.

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Field Notes is published by APGO and is edited by Wendy Diaz, P.Geo. If you have comments or wish to contribute material to this newsletter, please contact Wendy Diaz, P.Geo., or Andrea Waldie, P.Geo., Executive Director/Registar.

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