Addressing specific safety and occupational health challenges for the Canadian mines located in remote areas where extreme weather conditions dominate

Abstract

The number of mining operations is increasing in the Canadian North, where extreme weather conditions govern. Currently, many mine development projects are also in progress in this region. These mines’ working atmosphere and employment circumstances are highly different from regular mines. One of the main differences is the special safety issues of the Canadian North. The primary sources of these special issues are: the difficulty of finding skilled employees; high employee turnover rate; insufficient training and certification requirements; delicate employment circumstances affecting the psychological well-being of employees; permafrost; mine inspection challenges; inventory and logistic hardship; and the legislative and regulative necessities corresponding to the particular working environment. This paper aims to set forth specific safety cases in the mines located in the Canadian North. Then, it argues the characteristics of safety organizations and management required to deal with these cases. Furthermore, how the current frameworks can be improved is discussed. Safety issues stemming from cold weather conditions and location remoteness of mines add further challenges to the viability and implementation of projects. The paper underlines that mining operations need certain safety organizations, management approaches, and specific regulations for the mines operated in remote areas and under severe weather conditions.