Diavik Diamond Mines Inc has been ordered to pay $143,750 for an accident at the NWT mine in 2023 that resulted in serious injuries to a worker’s hand.
The Rio Tinto subsidiary pleaded guilty in Territorial Court on Wednesday to one count under the NWT’s Mine Health and Safety Act of failing to implement and maintain safe work practices. The Crown withdrew three additional charges under the act.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the worker was using a hose on January 26, 2023 to clean a rock fill mixer – a heavy piece of machinery used to mix the rock and cement that goes on to fill excavated areas of the mine.
When the man switched the hose between his hands, the end of the hose and then his left hand were pulled into the machine.
As a result, the man suffered multiple fractures to his hand and degloving – when the skin and soft tissue are rippled from the muscle beneath. Three of his fingers were amputated, one of which was saved in emergency surgery.
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Prosecutor Roger Shepard said the mine’s standard operating procedure for the mixer at the time required it to be turned off and locked out while it was cleaned. He said, however, that workers had not been following that policy for “quite some time” after changes to the machine. The mixer was also considered easier to clean while its blades or paddles were moving.
Instead of turning the machine off, the court heard workers had been reducing the mixer’s speed to 10 percent during cleaning.
Shepard said Diavik had failed to ensure the proper procedures were being followed and that workers knew how to deal with hazards. He also said there were no guards in place preventing a person from being pulled into the machine.
“This was a preventable accident,” he said, adding it was not unforeseeable that a worker cleaning close to the moving mixer could be injured or killed.
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The prosecutor noted Diavik was previously charged under the Mine Health and Safety Act and ordered to pay $172,500 after another worker was blinded in a 2020 accident involving the use of an excavator at a blast site.
Accident ‘significantly altered’ worker’s life
In a victim impact statement filed in the 2023 case, the worker expressed feelings of shame, embarrassment, guilt, fear and anger since the accident. He said he experiences constant pain, discomfort and panic attacks, and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The event “has forever scarred me both physically and mentally,” he wrote.
Shepard described the worker’s injuries as “very serious and lifetime” and said the accident had “significantly altered his life.”
He said the man has undergone at least four surgeries on his left hand, including skin grafts, and has another surgery scheduled next month. The worker has also attended occupational and physical therapy, he added.
The man said as a result of his injuries, he can no longer play catch or shoot hockey pucks with his son. His daughter has said she doesn’t want to touch “daddy’s gross hand.”
“I hope that nobody else has to endure the experience I have,” he wrote.
Diavik committed to safety, lawyer says
Michelle Jones, the lawyer representing Diavik, said the company had cooperated with a Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission investigation of the accident and conducted its own investigation.
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She said Diavik has made improvements since the accident, including:
- reviewing operating procedures at the mine and making updates where needed;
- training workers on updated procedures for the rock fill mixer;
- bolting down the mixer lids to create a permanent hazard guard;
- increasing leadership of the backfill plant; and
- installing lockout points right beside the backfill mixer.
“Diavik has exhibited a strong commitment to safety,” she said, adding that in 20 years of operations, there have been no fatalities at the mine.
Both the Crown and defence jointly argued Diavik should be fined $125,000 for the conviction, in addition to a 15-percent victim surcharge.
Jones said while that amount was lower than the fine Diavik was given in the 2020 incident, that accident was more serious and the lessons learned would not have prevented the 2023 accident.
Shepard said the amount would ensure the fine is not seen simply as the cost of doing business.
The charge carries a maximum fine of $500,000 for corporations.
Fine ‘not a token,’ judge finds
Justice Gary Magee accepted the joint submission, saying the fine was “not a token amount” but would also not cause a crushing effect on Diavik.
The judge noted putting “policies on paper” is not enough for industrial operations, and the companies that profit from them have a duty to ensure workers are properly trained and supervised.
Diavik has 30 days to pay both the fine, which goes to the WSCC Workers’ Protection Fund, as well as the victim surcharge, which goes to the NWT’s Victims Assistance Fund.
