Provincial report on mining health and safety to be released

As a conference on mining health and safety continues in Sudbury, a provincial report on Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review will be released Wednesday.

Industry insiders are in Sudbury for the 18th annual Mining Workplace Health and Safety conference.

The province said labour minister Kevin Flynn and Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault will make an announcement about mining safety at the conference Wednesday morning.

The province put together a review committee to look at how to improve mining safety.

It was chaired by George Gritziotis, the province's Chief Prevention Officer. He is scheduled to speak on the recommendations from the mining health, safety and prevention review Wednesday afternoon.

The committee travelled throughout the province to collect feedback from the public and those connected to the mining industry.

The panel was formed after pressure from the Steelworkers Union, and the families of two men, Jordan Fram and Jason Chenier, who died on the job in 2011 in Vale's Stobie Mine in Sudbury.

An interim report was released in September 2014 and at that time, United Steelworkers Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said it was a step in the right direction, but added more needed to be done.