“Lack of adequate: training for- newly hired underground mine. _ . workers is the primary problem — uncovered in a safety audit com- pleted last week at five North- west mining operations. . The Ministry: of . Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources launched the audit in reaction to _ “an alarming numberof mining related deaths in the last half of 1988 and early. 1989*" in the Northwest.’ Ministry personnel _ , examined operations at Cheni - Gold Mines. in the. Toodoggone . country’ north ‘of. Smithers, - - Skyline’s Johnny Mountain, , the Newhawk Sulphurets, Com- : ’ inco’s Snip mine, all in the Iskut: _- River valley, and Windy Craggy, - a massive base metal find near. the Yukon border operated by Geddes Resources: of Toronto. . - "We're. ‘tightening up the: rules. to require : ‘significantly more training;’’ Ralph McGinn, _ B.C.’s chief Inspector of Mines, -.@ coroner’s inquiry into two- told the Terrace Review last week, adding that he expects the new rules.to become statutory in early 1990. The training issue came out in deaths at the Suiphurets mine in February. At the Terrace in- quiry local resident Mike Ander- son 1 testified that he had been City hires deputy treasurer ‘The City of Terrace: has at long last filled the Deputy Treasurer’s position, an event that. Treasurer Keith Norman ’ says he has been looking for- ward to for years. Long-time _ Terrace resident Judy Degerness began working open. racks or boxes,- -scribed by a witness, but storage = to improve ‘tralr n ing sent underground with virtually no’ preparation, McGinn said that in small development oper- ations, a category into which nearly all the recently developed - * Northwest mines fall, ‘‘the ten- -dency is not there’’-to provide extensive training. He noted that during boom times like the pres-. ent, skilled underground miners become ‘scarce. and companies are-forced to hire inexperienced “people. “They should be given intro- -ductions, safety training, and be. put. with experienced miners for ‘a long time,’’. McGinn stated. Another issue that came up at : the inquiry involved storage of - explosives. underground... ‘McGinn said. it is normal pro- cedure to have the explosives in as° de- of explosives and blasting caps together -— a circumstance noted in the-Newhawk explosion — is _ | strictly forbidden. He conjec- tured that the individual who set off the blast may have : deliberately dumped the caps in -with the explosives, knowing the effect it would have. Other areas found wanting in Northwest mine operations were regular-occupational, health and safety staff mectings, commuti- for the city Monday, and in her capacity as Deputy. Treasurer. she will take care of routine accounting responsibilities such as the approval of city expenses and the supervision of account- ing department staff.. Norman says this will free up his time to Robert Collison and his buck Runt. Robert nad the Cham. pion Doe in the Junior Class and the Champlon Buck in the Senior Class at the Skeena Valley Fall Fale. 4H projects Judging. _ “cation: between ‘different crews cat shift - ‘changes, | cand: ‘safety awareness in general. “The Op- erations tend to rely on experi- ‘enced miners, but when. they’re . introducing new people there’s a _— tendanty ‘to underestimate the | danger,” McGinn remarked. All the mines have been issued orders for corrective action, he said, and. they'll be inspected ‘once évery, six to eight weeks. "There are four full time mine inspectors in. the region, and ‘McGinn said their workloads have'been unusually demanding ‘this: year. To partially ‘alleviate - the problem they have trained -and hired contract personnel in conjunction with the Ministry of ‘Environment to inspect mining operations, detect. problems, and report them to the inspec- tors. ‘It’s been. working quite well,” he said. . Over 500 Notices of Work have been filed this year at the ‘Smithers regional headquarters of the ministry. Many of the ‘problems, McGinn said, arise from operations that the minis- _ try-isn’t even aware are working because they don’t file notices. An-accident can take up to a full month for an inspector to inves- ‘tigate. . , take care of some of the more detailed . matters like budget analysis, controlling city invest- ‘ments and developing new ac- counting procedures and com- puter programs. . ‘ Degerness has lived in the area for most of her life and most recently’ ran her own) home- based business, JD Businesses Services. Prior to that, Deger- ness held the position of office manager at Dave’s Plumbing, worked in the city’s accounting department and worked at.a number of other jobs in the area. She says she enjoys working for the city and describes her new position as both challenging and interesting. With her chil- dren now grown and on their own, Degerness says the posi-. tion offers. activity and a new future. Road crew finds gas behind bank _ TERRACE — City workers pre- paring the alley behind the Roy- al Bank for paving struck a gas | line last. Thursday afternoon, . causing a minor leak. Director of Engineering Stew Christensen says that even... . though. the leak was small. and - there was no concern for public ~ safety, all safety precautions - were followed. All machinery was shut down immediately and a city worker had the leak pinched off within a minute of the incident. Christensen says that Pacific Northern Gas _re- paired the line shortly after and work on the alley continued. Local couples ‘who’ want to shake it up, ‘have a good time and support a good cause can pick up their tickets for $25 a pair and show up at the Thorn- hill Community Centre at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 23. Northern Pride (local misi- clans Wayne Millar and Ralph Trelenberg) have organized ‘Jam ’89°’, a dinner and dance that will spotlight the sounds of more than 20 local musicians, some in familiar combinations that haven’t been heard around here for 2 long time. The music will range all the way from 60’s rock to the new sounds of the late 80's. All the net: proceeds. will go toward purchase of emergency alert caller systems, which will be distributed through the Ter- race Homemakers Service to elderly and disabled local citizens, allowing them greater ‘safety and peace of mind for in- dependent living. The callers are worm by the individuals, and ‘unless they are reset at predeter- mined times during the day, the yrace Review — -Wednextay, September 3, 198 _ocal musicians put together dinner and .« ~ dance benefit concert | MANAGEMENT | SEMINAR system automatically dials a series of preprogrammed . emergency numbers to summon help. oe The units cost about $700 each, and Northern Pride hopes to raise enough through the benefit to buy two or three of them, A lotteries grant presented to the Homemakers Service dur- ing the summer provides. fund- ing to purchase one of the units for every three contributed: by the community, so if proceeds are high enough the event could get four of them. Tickets are §25 per couple, and they’re available at Sight and Sound and the Ironworks Gym. Sales are expected io: be brisk, and there are a limited ‘number of tickets. Included in the ticket price is a dinner catered at cost. by Cromarty and Co. Dinner ‘at 6:30 p.m., and the music starts at 9 o’clock, Refreshments will be available, and mo one under 19 will be admitted. For further information call Ralph Trelenberg at 635-4984. sector. ‘Cost: $75.00 ¢ HOW TO ARRANGE FINANCING ~ . Get That Loan — On Your Own! _. Even though tending money is not an exact science, lenders ask exciting questions. Learn about those questions and how to answer them. FBDB Management Seminars are extremely productive work sessions, Stimulating and thought- provoking, they use realistic case studies, allowing participants to assess their own management methods. Group discussions and presentations enable partici- pants to benefit from the experience of others. 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