Safety is always a number one priority at any mine, but OCI Wyoming strives to keep up-to-date on all the safety procedures and rescue operation requirements.
This is just one of the reasons why OCI’s mine rescue and surface rescue teams put in so much time preparing to possible situations.
One way to keep up on their training is through metal and nonmetal competitions. These regional competitions take place once a year and national competitions take place every other year. According to the Mine, Safety and Health Administration’s website, the next national competition will take place in 2016.
According MSHA’s website, “mine rescue contests are designed to sharpen skills and test the knowledge of team members who would be called on to respond to a mine emergency. The contest requires team members to solve a hypothetical problem while being timed and observed by judges according to complex rules.”
“Yes, our mine and surface rescue teams do train for competitions, but the most important thing is our readiness for actual emergencies,” Jeiremy Gomez, OCI’s Safety Specialist and a member of OCI’s mine rescue team, said.
Practicing is what keeps the teams sharp and ready. All of the teams believe there is always an opportunity for them to refine their skills, learn best practices and find new and better ways to do things.
“The competitions themselves are not the incentive. We don’t do this for accolades or trophies. The incentive is to be as fit and as ready as possible should a real event occur,” Zach Boylen, Production Supervisor and a member of OCI’s mine rescue team, said. “I enjoy doing mine rescue because not only does it help me broaden my knowledge of mining which ties back to my daily job, but knowing I can be there if I’m called upon to help one of my coworkers in need.”
During the regional competition, three events takes place, the mine rescue field competition, the first aid competition and a team technician competition, with mock disaster and emergency scenarios. Participants also take a written test, for all three competition areas.
Teams are then given a written briefing or the mock incident. Some of the mock emergencies include fire in a mine, potential cave in, roof fails, gas leak or an inundation of water.
“Trophies are nice and I’m excited for our team members but what the trophies mean is that we have well-prepared rescue teams. Our teams train for the worst thing that can happen -- a serious industrial accident or serious mine event. We hope we never have to use them, but if we do, we have some of the best prepared teams in the world. I’m proud of our teams and the extra effort they make to be the very best at what they do,” OCI Wyoming Site Manager Craig Rood said.
The Teams
OCI Wyoming’s White Team participated in the South East Region Mine Rescue Competition in Maysville, Ky.
· Paul Larson, Zach Boylen, Ashley Osborne, Jeiremy Gomez, Joey Carter, Kevin Mattinson, Mitch Maser and Zach Cary won First Place in Field Comp
· Zach Boylen and Joey Carter won Second Place in Team Tech
· Jeiremy Gomez, Kevin Mattinson and Ashley Osborne won Third Place in First Aid
· Paul Larson, Zach Boylen, Ashley Osborne, Jeiremy Gomez, Joey Carter, Kevin Mattinson, Mitch Maser and Zach Cary were named First Place Champions for the Overall Combination of Events
OCI Wyoming’s Blue Team participated in the Southern Regional Mine Rescue Competition in New Iberia, La.
· Kael Brady and Brent Skorcz won First Place for Team Tech
· Blake Barney, Brent Skorcz, Gary Ruiz, Dustin Smith, Rich Clark, Jake Knutson, Kael Brady and Chuck Jones won First Place for Field Competition
OCI Wyoming’s Surface Rescue Team participated in specialized training recently in Snowmass, Colo.
· Jason Herbin, Richard Gilmore, Bobby Volcic, Bobby Cudney, Skeeter Hicks, Cody Phillips, Clark Saltz, Ric Flores, Tito Flores, Kelly Anderson (Trainer) and Dan Eychner (Trainer)
· This team completed ‘Guts and Gore’ training, Rescue Rodeo as well as several different emergency training scenarios including first aid, rappelling, scaling, lifting/lowering patients and HAZMAT
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