This is the third and final report of a study on the Internal Responsibility System (IRS) in Ontario underground mines.footnote 1 Our main aim has been to develop an audit tool through which the health of the Internal Responsibility System in a mine can be assessed. This report describes the validated audit tool, as a result of its being tested in a trial audit on six mines, and contains suggestions for further improvement of the tool and for its administration by others.

The study has been conducted with the oversight of the IRS Steering Committee consisting of government, industry and labour representatives. This committee selected the six mines at which to test the trial audit tool-four hardrock mines (two gold mines and two base-metal mines) and two soft-rock mines:footnote 2

  • Falconbridge Ltd., Kidd Creek Mine, Timmins
  • Inco Ltd., Creighton Mine, Copper Cliff
  • Georgia Pacific Corp., Caledonia Mine, Caledonia
  • Sifto Canada Inc., Goderich Mine, Goderich
  • Placer Dome Canada Ltd., Musselwhite Mine, Thunder Bay
  • Teck-Corona Operating Corp., David Bell Mine, Marathon

These mines were not a random sample of Ontario underground mines but were chosen so as to provide a broad range of both mine types and health and safety performance. In addition, the Steering Committee selected two mining-contractor operations to which the audit tool was to be administered, with the primary purpose of investigating the IRS interface between mine and contractor employees. The visits took place from the end of February to the beginning of April 2000.


Footnotes

  • footnote[1] Back to paragraph The two earlier reports were: I.M. Plummer, P.W. Strahlendorf, and M.G. Holliday, THE INTERNAL RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEM IN ONTARIO MINES-Interim Report #1: Description of the IRS (delivered to the IRS Steering Committee, 30 November 1999); and, I.M. Plummer, P.W. Strahlendorf, and M.G. Holliday, THE INTERNAL RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEM IN ONTARIO MINES-Interim Report #2: The Pilot Audit (delivered to the IRS Steering Committee, 7 February 2000).
  • footnote[2] Back to paragraph An earlier version of the audit tool was tested at two mines (also selected by the IRS Steering Committee)-Craig Mine, Onaping; Campbell Mine, Red Lake-in the pilot phase of the project. The experience gained led to modifications in the questionnaires that were then administered in the trial audit.