WorkSafe has started an investigation into a work-related fatality at a mine site in the state's Goldfields-Esperance region this morning.
WorkSafe has started an investigation into a work-related fatality at a mine site in the state's Goldfields-Esperance region this morning.
In a statement released this afternoon, WorkSafe announced a man died in a work-related incident on a mine site near Wiluna.
WorkSafe investigators from Perth and WorkSafe Mines Safety inspectors from Kalgoorlie will attend the site, and are set to arrive tomorrow.
The mine is located about 900 kilometres north-east of Perth, the workplace health and safety regulator said.
"WorkSafe investigators examine the circumstances surrounding incidents to ensure compliance and prevent future occurrences of a similar nature," the watchdog said in its statement.
"WorkSafe is unable to provide further details while its enquiries are ongoing."
The incident is the first work-related death on a mine site in WA this year.
WorkSafe commissioner Sally North extended her sincere condolences to the man’s family, friends and colleagues.
Today's incident comes a month after WorkSafe temporarily shut down a WA open-pit iron ore mine for two days over inadequate emergency response capabilities.
In July, WorkSafe inspectors issued a notice to prohibit operation of the mine's heavy vehicles and limiting light vehicles' movements after they found the site had no mobile plant or adequate rescue equipment.
The regulator last month released an updated set of materials, guides and self-assessments, to help WA's mine operators manage hazards and contractors.
Upon unveiling the new materials, WorkSafe Mines Safety director Tony Robertson said helping operators stick to the state's legislation was key to improving workplace health and safety practices in a dangerous industry that employs thousands of local workers.
“Failing to plan is planning to fail, and that’s not an acceptable approach for the WA mining sector to adopt when the lives of so many of the State’s workers are on the line,” he said in July.
WorkSafe probed into another work-related death earlier this year, a male painter in his 60's who fell from an A-frame ladder in Mandurah in late January.
