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January 04, 2025 - 7:00 PM
A BC mining company has lost an appeal to overturn a $140,000 fine it received after a mechanic suffered severe and life-altering injuries caused by an explosion at a mine in the Kootenays.
According to a Dec. 30, 2024, Environmental Appeal Board decision, Teck Coal Ltd, was fined $140,000 after the province found the mining company hadn't properly trained its workers.
The decision said the incident took place in January 2019 at the Greenhills Operations coal mine near Elkford.
A mechanic went to replace the wheel on a 20-ton truck at a mine when it exploded.
"A commercial vehicle safety and enforcement inspector from the Provincial Ministry of Transportation examined the components of the wheel that exploded. The inspector determined, after noting impact marks on the locking piece of the multi-piece rim, that the tire company could have assembled it incorrectly," the decision read. "The wheel (tire and rim) with an improperly installed lock ring could remain conditionally stable when the tire was pressurized."
Two other employees in an adjacent room heard the explosion and ran into the workshop to find the mechanic on the workshop floor with severe injuries.
The mechanic was rushed to hospital and a safety investigation took place.
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The investigator's report found that an incorrectly installed locking ring done by a third-party contractor caused the "catastrophic" failure.
"The report advised that (Teck Coal) was responsible for identifying risks and hazards associated with wheel changes and ensuring the adoption of controls to prevent these risks and hazards. It states that the (Teck Coal) had not identified the risks or adopted controls for (the) prevention of risk of harm arising from those hazards," the decision read.
Teck Coal appealed the fine, in part arguing it had taken multiple steps to prevent such an accident.
Much of the lengthy 58-page decision goes into the legalities about whose jurisdiction it is to hand out the fine and the definitions under the BC Mines Act.
However, the Environmental Appeal Board dismissed Teck Coals argument and upheld the $140,000 fine.
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