In January, two underground mining accidents — one in West Virginia and another in Saskatchewan — made headlines around the world, but for dramatically different reasons.

The explosion at International Coal Group Inc.’s Sago mine in West Virginia killed 12 miners, 11 of whom died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The rescue operation was fraught with problems, including an 11-hour delay before the first rescue team entered the mine and a tragic communications mix-up that grossly misled the miners’ families and the media about the miners’ condition.

That disaster and four subsequent deaths in West Virginia coal mines has prompted Gov. Joe Manchin to appoint U.S. mines safety expert Davitt McAteer to conduct a review of the mines’ safety and rescue procedures.

As part of that review, McAteer will visit Mosaic Co.’s potash mine at Esterhazy, Sask., 200 kilometres northeast of Regina, where in the same month 72 underground workers walked away from a potentially deadly fire without a scratch.

McAteer, former U.S. assistant secretary of labour, wants to improve communications underground to aid in finding workers during rescue operations.

When McAteer visits Esterhazy, he will see two things that rescue workers and miners in the Sago mine didn’t have: a communications system and refuge stations. Both were critical components in the Esterhazy rescue, which has been called a textbook example of an underground mine rescue operation.

In Canada, refuge stations have been in existence since the 1930s and have been required by Saskatchewan mine regulations since the late 1960s. Mosaic Potash Esterhazy — the world’s largest underground potash mine — has roughly 12 refuge stations.

Of these refuge stations at the mine, there are two kinds: permanent stations cut into the ore body, roughly 15 metres wide by 45 metres long by three metres high, equipped with first-aid equipment and enough food, water and air to last 30 miners 36 hours; and smaller, auxiliary stations that simply provide temporary refuge for one or two miners.

All refuge stations are equipped with communications systems to enable the rescue command centre to locate the miners. This was also lacking in the Sago mine and led to delays in getting to the trapped miners.

At Esterhazy, rescue crews were able to reach the first group of miners in about an hour. Communications, refuge stations and the rigorous safety training employed at all underground mines in the province proved to be the difference between a successful rescue and a potential tragedy.

However, the Esterhazy rescue was not without its problems. Due to the fire, communications with 32 workers was lost for about 12 hours, which complicated the rescue effort and caused untold stress.

As it turns out, the fire — accidentally caused by a worker using a cutting torch to remove bolts from a flange connected to a polyethylene pipe — destroyed the communications and electrical wiring in part of the mine.

Steps were taken immediately to begin relocating all wiring from the polyethylene pipe, used to remove water from the mine, to prevent future disruptions in communications and electrical supply. “Hot work permits” will also be required when cutting torches are used around flammable objects.

Mosaic Potash Esterhazy’s management and employees, especially the volunteer rescue teams, deserve a lot of credit for the successful rescue effort, which won plaudits from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, among others.

“I’m not going to deny that this makes us feel really proud, but that’s not why we do it,’’ says Marshall Hamilton, human resources manager for Mosaic Potash Esterhazy, who also co-ordinated communications during the 30-hour rescue mission.

“We do it because we believe safety is good business,’’ adds Hamilton, who, ironically, played safety for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the early 1980s. “We believe that taking care of the safety of our employees and their families is just the right thing to do.’’ IE