ONTARIO – As part of the resolution of charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection to the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram at Stobie mine in 2011, Vale entered a guilty plea on three counts, and agreed to a fine of $1.05 million plus a 25% surcharge.
The men died when an unscheduled run of muck from an ore pass buried them. The company was originally charged on nine counts and the mine supervisor faced six. The company and the Crown struck a plea deal to reduce the number of charges. The three remaining charges were related to the company's failure to correct water and the hang-up of wet material in the ore pass.
Kelly Strong, Vale's VP of Ontario/UK Operations, released the following statement on behalf of Vale with respect to this matter:
"We have a responsibility to the families, our employees, our company and our community – all of whom have been deeply affected – to ensure we do everything we can to prevent this or any other tragedy from occurring in our operations again.
"We continue to put in place measures to make our plants and mines as safe as possible. Nothing we can say or do can ever turn back the clock and bring Jason and Jordan back, but we will continue to honour their memories through our unwavering focus on safety and reaching zero harm in our workplace."
Visit Vale.com.
Comments