SEPTEMBER, 1969 THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER IWA SAFETY PAGE "CASH AWARDS GIVEN BY WCB: ELEVEN MINERS AWARDED : FOR SAVING FELLOW WORKMEN — Eleven miners from the Canadian Exploration Limited Jersey Mine at Salmo, B.C., and a doctor are the latest recipients of Workmen’s Com- pensation Board “Bravery Awards” for their heroic action in the dramatic rescue of a workman almost com- pletely buried by 300 tons of broken rock near the bottom of a 92 foot vertical ore-pass. On April 18, Mucker Boss Gilbert Mosses, 53, had enter- ed an unused tungsten stope to dislodge a “hang-up” in the upper 72 feet of the Num- ber 65 ore-pass when it sud- denly gave way knocking him to the bottom of the remain- ing 22 foot section. Buried by Ore He found himself partially protected by the sloping wall of the shaft but buried by broken ore in a corner of the shaft with only his head and one arm free. He was lying on his back with his head about one foot lower than his feet. Forty fellow miners worked desperately for eleven hours under extremely hazardous conditions before the trapped man was freed. Award Winners Receiving Bravery Awards for their part in the rescue were shift boss Carl Shelrud, who received the WCB “Gold Award”, the highest award available, consisting of a mounted gold medallion, a parchment scroll detailing the incident, and $2,000 in cash for devising the successful res- cue plan and risking his own life by repeatedly crawling into the extremely dangerous area in which Mosses was trapped. Mr. Shelrud is the first person ever to receive a WCB “Gold Award” $1,000 “Silver Awards” went to Mine Manager Ed- ward Lawrence and Shift Boss Andrew Burgess, while $750 “Bronze Awards” were presented to Dr. Ian Stewart of Salmo, and Miners Dale Burgess, Wayne Ritter, Gra- ham Bingham, John Voykin, Alphonse Grotkowski, Ed- ward Gladu and Brian Martin. A $500 “Parchment Award” was presented to First Aid Man Laurent Heroux. Rescue Operation The dramatic rescue oper- ation began about 2:15 p.m., April 18, when truck driver Jim Wiewor found the ore- pass he had been hauling from in the underground operation empty, and decided to check number 65 to see if it had been cleared He positioned his unit under the unloading chute and prepared to operate the con- trols that would allow the tons of ore to pour into his huge Euclid dump truck to be haul- ed from the tunnel for pro- cessing. For some reason, unknown even to himself, Wiewor called out to see if the area was clear, an unusual thing to do, as normally the truck driver -is the only one in the area of the chute. Heard A Voice Much to his surprise, he heard a voice from behind the closed gates of the chute. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he ran to the nearest mine phone and called for help. A rescue team of Mosses’ fellow workmen was quickly assembled to begin the long dangerous job of free- ing him. It was impossible to deter- mine the exact location of the victim because he was behind the timbers and gate holding back the tons of rock. To open them would have dislodged the entire load of ore which ie have surely crushed Face Dangerous Task On inspection the shaft proved to be completely full of broken ore, which wo be impossible to remove from the top so the rescue team had to oe the highly danger- ous task of approaching the trapped man from the bottom of the chute without disturb- ing the precarious position of mie rocks under which he was buried. It was decided to use an air powered chain saw to cut through the upper restraining timbers of the chute bulk- head and gingerly work to- ward the trapped man. An opening about 2 feet square was provided and after removing several of the large rocks at the bulkhead, Mine Manager Edward Lawrence and Shift Boss Carl Shelrud were able to carefully crawl into the area where Mosses was trapped to evaluate his condition and determine what would be required to prepare him for the long ordeal that was to follow. Plan Devised A plan was devised where- by it was decided to try and place timbers to prevent the ore in the upper 70 foot sec- tion from coming down, and then carefully draw the re- maining 22 foot portion of broken rock passed the trapped man. This plan worked well for a time and about 25 tons of ore had been removed when suddenly the timbers over the junction area collapsed from the weight of the rocks above. By this time, Mosses had been trapped approximately seven hours. The only alternative now was to attempt to place tim- bers against the “hung up” rocks in the lower portion of the ore-pass and carefully re- move the material trapping Mosses. Rock Removal The shoring was completed and removal of the rock be- gan about 9:30 p.m. Progress went well for the first half hour and by 10:00 p.m. the trapped man was free down to his knees. However, the rescuers were now faced with a large boulder under his knees which had to be care- fully broken so as not to dis- turb the “hang up” rocks sup- ported by the timbers. To accomplish this, the rescue team had to take turns lying on their stomachs in the crawl space and carefully use a hammer and steel to chip the unseen rocks, all the time facing the threat of a rock- fall, which would have surely meant serious injury or death. More Rocks Discovered By 11:30 p.m. several more large rocks were discovered closely packed around the trapped man’s ankles. This problem seemed almost insur- mountable because of the dis- tance the rescuers had to reach under the man to work. The continual pounding had loosened the supporting tim- bers and these also had to be reset. At this point it appeared that amputation of Mbosses’ legs might be the only way to free the victim, but the rescu- ers persisted and at about Alternative # 1 Plank Bulkhead This failed necessitating implementation of Alternative = 2. G. Mosses fell from this area. Muck flowed down this path in Alternative = 1 scue attempt. Drill rods to dam rock flow. 12:50 a.m. Shift Boss Shelrud. reported he was able to free one of Mosses’ ankles. By 1:00 am, the second ankle was freed and the man was care- fully lowered down the chute onto a stretcher and by 1:15 a.m. he was on his way by ambulance to the Kootenay Lake General Hospital at Nelson. Now Recovering At the hospital Mosses was re pass raise. 67 West Stope Portion of old tungsten stope. Alternative + 2 Timbers placed in this general area. Timbers that were cut and removed. found to be suffering from shock and bruises in addition to several fractured ribs. He is now recovering.and hopes to return to work in early September. Mosses says with conviction that the bravery and sp endid- coordinated team work played by his fellow woes are oy responsible for sav- ing e, and returning him to their ranks, \ “ALCOHOL FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR MOST TRAFFIC FATALITIES | Alcohol is involved in more than half of Canada’s traffic fatalities, a Traffic Injury Re- search Foundation (TIRF) study reports. Its findings co- incide with those carried out in the United States. Of the 1,163 motor vehicle victims documented, 54.5 per cent had been drinking and 43 per cent had blood alcohol concentrations of 0.10% or greater. Of the 281 pedestrian traffic victims referred to in the study, 53.9 per cent had been drinking and 39.9 per cent had blood alcohol con- centrations of 0.10% and over. Real Total Higher Dr. Eric O’F. Campbell, TIRF Medical Director, said in his study published by Modern Science Magazine of Canada that the total involve- ment of alcohol in traffic deaths is likely to be consider-" ably higher than the study’s findin The report is confined to victims who died within six hours of the accident and it was impossible to take into account other surviving drink- ing drivers who may have been involved in accidents re- sulting in deaths of non-drink- ing drivers, he said. The study is based on re- ports provided to the Ottawa- based Foundation by the Chief Coroners of Alberta and On- tario for 1966 and 1967 as well as by the RCM Police of ew Brunswick for the last two months of 1966 and all of 1967. Based on 0.10% Dr. Campbell picked the 0.10% blood alcohol concen- tration level as the dividing figure in the report because “it is widely regarded as the point at which all human beings, regardless of their drinking habits, are considered im- paired in respect to safe per- formance of the driving task”. The Federal Government’s breath analysis legislation makes it an offence to drive a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or over. The statistics give a strong indication but no conclusive proof that many non-drinking motorists killed in multiple- car accidents died because of impaired drivers in the other involved vehicles. LIGHTER SIDE Some guys have plenty of drive — but they can’t get their molar sec * An eee os worker told us he was a lot happier when he worked in a distillery —when he worked overtime they pad him sues and a fifth. Keep cafes sez as Jim — it makes your wife wonder what you’ve been up to!