Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines

[1][2][3] The commission was created by Bill Davis as a result of the 1974 Elliot Lake miners strike and led by James Milton Ham.

[4] On 18 April 1974, uranium miners at Elliot Lake, concerned about the prevalence of lung cancer and silicosis, started a fourteen-day wildcat strike.

[5][6] The strike prompted Ontario Premier Bill Davis on 10 September 1974 to ask engineer and university administrator[7] James Ham to lead a commission on the health and safety of workers in uranium mines.

[9] The commission created the concept of the Internal Responsibility System[1][3] which became a key element of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1979.

[4][8] Vic Pakalnis, the CEO of the Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation described Ham as the "father of occupational health and safety in Canada.