Two Saskatchewan mines earn prestigious John T. Ryan Trophy for lowest rate of reportable injuries

Two Saskatchewan mines have been honoured in an area of key importance — worker safety.

The John T. Ryan Trophies recognize workplaces earning the lowest rate of reportable injuries.

“The significance of the award is that, at the national or regional levels, these operations have the satisfaction of knowing their safety efforts are leading in their respective category or jurisdiction and this recognition is valued,” says Gord Winkel, chair of the John T. Ryan Safety Trophies Committee.

“I am so pleased to tell you, year over year, mining continues to improve in safety performance so, in fact, in some jurisdictions it is safer to work in mining than many other industries, including construction, manufacturing, oil and gas,” says Winkel. “It is truly becoming a leader in safety. People in mining are really embracing the safety culture.”

Hundreds of mining operations coast-to-coast vie for the awards and Saskatchewan continues to make the grade.

The national award for 2017 in the select mine category went to Mosaic Esterhazy K1 while Cameco’s Corp.’s Cigar Lake uranium mine was the Prairies and Northwest Territories regional winner in the hard rock mine category.

Winkel says safety must be “part of the corporate DNA” which is clearly the case with Mosaic’s K1, which also won the Saskatchewan Mining Association’s safety award in 2017.

“In our industry, it’s a prestigious award,” says Dustin Maksymchuk, Mosaic K1’s general manager. “We take it a day at a time and it’s a culture at the site. There’s a sense of accountability and a culture of caring for each other.”

Maksymchuk says winning the award is not easy. “It’s very tough competition,” he says. “They have the same focus we do. Other mines are also safe places to work.”

About 325 employees and more than 200 contractors work at Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine, some 600 kilometres north of Saskatoon. And the site’s general manager, Jeremy Breker, is excited the workplace earned a John T. Ryan award for having the lowest injury rates for the region, with zero work time lost to injuries and only minor injuries occurring.

“It’s great to have some recognition for all the employees who have put in effort to make it such a safe site,” Breker says. “Elated is probably a good word.”

Breker says winning is less about the prestigious props and more about what it represents — a workplace where people can be safe and feel empowered to speak up if there are any issues that need to be addressed.

“We don’t go in from the competitive perspective, but a value-based approach,” he says. “As a person that works at Cigar Lake, I’m very proud to be part of the team, proud of our employees who made our mine among the safest in Canada. We appreciate the recognition.”

The John T. Ryan Trophies are awarded by Mine Safety Appliances Canada Ltd. as a memorial to the company founder.

Trophies are awarded to the metalliferous mine, the select mine and the coal mine, which in the previous year boasted the lowest reportable injury frequency per 200,000 hours worked.

Winkel says John T. Ryan was an entrepreneur who “developed a real passion for the safety of people in mining and was involved with the supply of mine safety equipment which could improve the lot of miners and their safety and also directly (improve) productivity.”

Ryan was president of Mine Safety Appliances, which recently celebrated 100 years of operation.