Return to work at Tara Mines

Underground work and all operations at Tara Mines are resuming following a sit in underground over the past week, according to General Manager Jason Morin.

Boliden Tara mines looked to implement enhancements to its current Emergency response system  on Monday, sparking protests from undergroundworkers.

'The background to this enhancement was at the directive of the Pre-Hospital Emergency-Care-Council which conducted a review of our previous system and had advised us along with other improvements an Emergency First Response led system be implemented,' said Mr Morin.

'Boliden Tara mines has always gone a step above its requirements under the pertinent legislations to meet its obligations in regards to safety. Our safety record over the past few years with the efforts of all our employees and contractors speaks for itself.

'A significant investment in time and money was made by the business to get the enhanced system in place and had numerous consultation with authorities, safety committee, and Union officials to ensure all views were covered and that points taken were all considered under a formal risk assessment conducted to address these concerns. Unfortunately, and regrettably, it was deemed necessary to take action by parts of the workforce and resist the implementation of the enhanced system.

'The company had agreed with the safety representatives to meet to review options. On Thursday both sides met with a work relation committee mediator and came to the understanding that a competent third party would review the enhanced system and make a ruling.

'The selected party was a senior health and safety Inspector who would come to site and meet with both parties and review the system and provide a ruling. 'The outcome of the review was the system was deemed to be an improvement to the care of potentially injured parties and meets all obligations under the legislative acts in which the company is bound. The inspector did make some recommendations to further improve the system in which the safety committee and management engaged to implement changes to suit both parties.'

Mr Morin said that there is never a winner in such situations.

'We have to respect each other’s view and live with our actions and move forward with lessons learned to avoid such an event in the future. The company is comfortable with its commitment to safety and will always take feedback and look to improve. I would hope that all parties put this behind them and move forward.

'This means we are returning to work underground and throughout our operations. Essentially, getting back to delivering on our commitments to our customers’ and relevant stakeholders while maintain our excellent performance in safety,' he said.