Authorities revealed remote resources employees were among the industry’s latest fatalities.
The Western Australian Police Force recently confirmed a MACA employee who died at Capricorn Metals’ Karlawinda mine (530km southeast of Port Hedland) and contractor who passed away at Gold Fields’ St Ives mine (80km south of Kalgoorlie) were both fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers.
The Pilbara district office said the MACA worker was a 59-years-old Perth man, fatally struck by a dump truck on October 13 at about 7:30am (WA time). Mainstream media reports speculate the truck operator could not see the victim’s utility vehicle due to the cabin’s height while moving along a pit ramp’s “dip road”. The truck driver was “distraught” but uninjured from the accident.
The Goldfields contractor was a Mundijong man, working as a rock driller at the time of death. The 37-year-old perished from a rockfall while working on a vent rise.
“We will investigate the cause of death and provide that information to the coroner but we will also work with our colleagues at WorkSafe, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, and get to the understanding of why this has occurred – and what lessons we can learn,” superintendent Kim Massam said according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“It hammers home the continued need to be as vigilant as we can; the most important thing that comes out of a mine site are the people that go into it every day.”
The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) condemned Gold Fields management for allegedly barring a local inspector from entering part of the St Ives operation.
“The absolute tragedy of a fatality at Gold Fields’ Hamlet underground mine has not been enough for this company to put the best interests of their workforce before more industrial relations games and push back against organised employee representation. Gold Field Australia should have welcomed the opportunity to have our union safety reps onsite to help with the investigation and work with all parties to ensure an incident like this never happens again,” a spokesperson said according to Seven West Media.
AWU plans to issue a section 49(i) entry under the state’s Industrial Relations Act.
“AWU will now take all legal measures to further escalate our concerns regarding safety at all Gold Fields Australia sites,” the spokesperson said.
“The union stands behind the family and friends of the deceased and extends our members’ deepest condolences and sympathies. An incident like this affects all involved deeply and often for a prolonged period of time.”
The South Africa-headquartered proponent claims it is already holding talks with regional union representatives and has arranged for mine workers to “facilitate their visit”.
Meanwhile, the Western Mine Workers Alliance (WMWA) offered condolences to colleagues, loved ones and the broader community.
“While we are deeply, deeply saddened by this death we cannot honestly say we are surprised, because recent history has taught us that our industry is not taking safety as seriously as it should,” WMWA spokesperson Brad Gandy said in a public statement.
“There is something fundamentally wrong with the safety culture created by the management of our mining industry. Things need to change; the culture needs to change … [and] WMWA is calling for an industrywide safety reset. It is time to put people before profits for a change.”
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