EDITORIAL — Westray’s bitter legacy — Safety first and foremost

A predictable and preventable disaster — caused not by a single definable event or misstep, but by “a mosaic of actions, omissions, mistakes, incompetence, apathy, cynicism, stupidity and neglect.” These words summed up the findings of Justice K.P. Richard, commissioner of the Westray Mine Public Inquiry, after he examined events leading to an underground explosion that killed 26 miners at the Westray coal mine in the early hours of May 9, 1992.

The disaster shook the tiny community of Plymouth, east of Stellarton in Nova Scotia’s Pictou Cty. It also was a tragedy for the Canadian coal mining industry, which, for decades, has worked hard to ensure that all mines across the nation operate to the highest safety standards. Westray showed that more work needs to be done to entrench a workplace ethic that values the personal safety of the worker over the economic imperatives of increased production.

As Justice Richard aptly quoted in his summary, “the most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner.” Those words, attributed to Frederic LePlay (a French sociologist and inspector-general of mines), are as true today as in the 1800s, when they were first uttered.

The inquiry found that Westray management had lost sight of the basic tenet of coal mining: that safe mining is good business. As a result, the sparks struck by the cutting bits of the continuous miner caused a disaster the judge believed might not have happened had there been adequate ventilation, had there been adequate treatment of coal dust, and had there been adequate training and an appreciation by management of a safety ethic.

The inquiry did not excuse the actions of others who contributed to the disaster. As the testimony unfolded, it became known that the Department of Natural Resources had failed to carry out its statutory duties and responsibilities. The Department of Labour was described as “passive” and “apathetic” and the performance of two of its inspectors was found to be “markedly derelict.”

The inquiry report portrays Westray as a case study of disaster that was caused, in no small part, by a failure to comply to a regulatory regime that had evolved over years with worker safety as its paramount goal. As Justice Richard noted, “regulations, no matter how effective on paper, are worthless when they are ignored or trivialized by management and when their enforcement is in the hands of an apathetic and insensitive inspectorate.” The Westray tragedy is all the more painful considering that the mine might never have been developed had normal market forces been allowed to prevail.

Justice Richard notes that mine owner Curragh was interested in the coal project “only if it was able to secure significant government support” and was less interested in the merits of the project itself. As a result of this mindset, Curragh received a $12-million loan from the provincial government and secured a take-or-pay agreement with the province for 275,000 tonnes of coal per year for 15 years. Curragh also managed to secure a federal loan guarantee of about $85 million, a direct contribution against interest and an $8-million interim loan. Meanwhile, Curragh’s equity investment in the project was described as “minimal.”

In our view, new mine projects should move forward solely on their merits.

The days of going hat-in-hand to government to secure funding and loan guarantees for marginal projects are over. Curragh’s approach to doing business unnecessarily compromised the role of government agencies charged with ensuring the safety of mine workers. It should not happen again. This is only one of many lessons to be learned from the Westray tragedy.