New rules to reduce diesel exposure in Ontario mines by 70%

When Nick Larochelle started working in an underground mine in 1985 he remembered riding on a Ford tractor behind a large scoop tram.

"The exhaust from that eight-yard scoop was making my eyes burn and my nose water," he said.

"And the person that was driving me stood up while he was driving the tractor and he said, 'Welcome to the mine. This is your new life.'"

Like thousands of underground miners that came before and after him, Larochelle was breathing in diesel exhaust fumes.

These new rules will save lives by lowering the amount of harmful chemicals from diesel exhaust allowed in underground mines.- Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton

Long-term exposure to that diesel exhaust can cause lung cancer.

Larochelle, who is now president of United Steelworkers Local 6500 in Sudbury, Ont., said his father, who was also a miner, died of lung cancer in 2015.

He has dedicated much of his career to advocating for the health and safety of underground miners in Ontario.

Until recently, Ontario had the highest diesel exposure limits for underground workers in Canada, at 400 micrograms per cubic metre.

On Tuesday, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton announced those limits would be reduced to 120 micrograms per cubic metre. 

"We're introducing the toughest standards in North America to reduce exposure by 70 per cent and keep our miners safe," McNaughton said during a press conference in Sudbury.

"These new rules will save lives by lowering the amount of harmful chemicals from diesel exhaust allowed in underground mines."

Larochelle said he and his colleagues have long advocated for stricter diesel exposure limits in Ontario mines.

Stricter limits would protect the 29,000 people in the province who work with heavy equipment underground or in tunnels, where the air can't circulate as well as it would outdoors. 

In 2020, Sudbury MPP Jamie West and Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas both advocated for more stringent limits.

Larochelle said the new rules are a positive step, but added that more could be done to keep miners safe.

Both the United Steelworkers and the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) at Laurentian University recommend a safe limit of 20 micrograms per cubic metre.

"The Minister has made a commitment to continue working, we've made a commitment to continue working," Larochelle said.

"Now we need to get industry on board and comply with the current regulations and work together to drive those numbers down to 20."