This is the first time in more than 100 years that the state has been fatality free.

Not a bad effort when it is factored in that there are 98,000 people working in WA’s resources industry.

WA has a vast array of mining covering both surface and underground operations.

The one thing it does not have is underground coal, so there is a bit of a difference there.

However, the miners face many of the same dangers that underground coal miners face.

Not least of those is pinning hazards.

In some of the underground hard rock mines in WA miners operate large loaders with line-of-sight remote control systems not dissimilar to those used by continuous miner operators.

They too run the risk of getting trapped between the machine and the mine wall.

WA Minister of Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore pointed to the Reform and Development of Resources Safety plan his department had adopted.

“The strategy has helped create an environment where companies, workers and the wider community are working together to ensure higher standards and better safety cultures,” he said.

“Regulation also has been strengthened with 13 safety inspectors employed in 2012 – joining WA’s 63-member inspector team.”

Moore said vigilance had to be maintained.

“One swallow does not make a summer, so the challenge now is to ensure safety continues to have the highest priority across the industry.”

Interestingly, the state has managed its feat in spite of the fact that it does not mandate the use of proximity detection devices, something the Mine Safety and Health Administration is keen to do in the US.

This is something that could well make mines both in WA and the US much safer.