Unifor marks one year since 2 drillers killed at First Nickel's Lockerby Mine in Sudbury
'It's important for the family and everyone especially in the mining community to memorialize'
Wednesday marks a year since two men died at First Nickel's Lockerby Mine in Sudbury.
Unifor health and safety representative Dave Stewart has been helping the families of 49-year-old Norm Bisaillon and 34-year-old Marc Methe.
The company said a seismic event followed by a fall of ground killed the two drillers.
Stewart said he hopes their deaths don't get lost amidst recent news in mining safety, such as the Fram and Chenier inquest and a provincial mining review.
"It's important for the family and everyone especially in the mining community to memorialize, to ensure that controls are put in place so that these tragedies don't happen again," said Stewart.
"We're getting deeper in our mines and that's bringing new hazards. We have to do everything humanly possible to prevent any accidents and especially a fatality."
First Nickel and Taurus Drilling, the contracting firm the men worked for, are facing thirteen charges under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act.
A news release from First Nickel said it has conducted an independent engineering investigation of the accident site. It also said it put the resulting orders and recommendations into effect, working with several unions.