In 2002, Mike Parent had recently arrived in Sudbury to work in the mining industry when he was sent by his supervisor to install ventilation underground.
Eager to impress the boss and learn some new skills, Parent was partnered with a more experienced worker, and the two went to the site to get started. The partner operated the scooptram (a kind of front-end loader), while Parent climbed up into the bucket ready to start work.
Even though he knew a fall arrest lanyard was in the cab of the vehicle, and policy at the time was to attach it before starting any work, Parent carried on anyway, without any safety measures to protect him should he fall from the bucket.
Nothing like that would be acceptable now, Parent said, and looking back, he calls it “foolishness,” because he violated a rule and put his own wellbeing at risk.
“That moment, as I became a health and safety professional, I had to ponder, ‘Why did I not tie off?’ Because no one else did,” said Parent, a former paramedic, mine rescue volunteer, and health and safety manager. Parent is also a City of Greater Sudbury councillor.
“That’s how powerful culture is.”
Parent, the president and CEO at Workplace Safety North (WSN), shared the story as the opening speaker during WSN’s 27th annual Mining Health and Safety Conference, taking place April 30 and May 1 at Science North in Sudbury.
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