The fatality comes as the New South Wales Minerals Council has just completed a two day seminar on maintaining safety standards in the mining industry and after the death of two mine workers at Yancoal’s Austar mine underground last month when walls collapsed in a development tunnel.
The deceased mine worker at Boggabri – a construction rigger – did not respond to CPR by ambulance crews after he sustained trauma to his neck and head by “some sort of structure,” according to NSW Ambulance.
The deceased man is in his 40s and believed to be working on the extension of the controversial mine which – along with the nearby Maules Creek coal project – has been the subject of several protests because of its proximity to the Leard Forest.
Comment has been sought from Japanese giant Idemitsu.
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union general secretary Andrew Vickers said the recent coal mining accidents in New South Wales and Queensland as well as the 301 fatalities in the mine fire in Turkey highlighted the dangers of working in the mining industry and the need to maintain vigilance on safety.
“Recent incidents at Australian coal mines resulting in the tragic loss of lives have made it a tough few weeks for mineworkers and their families, and now a tragedy on a greater scale is unfolding in Turkey with the loss of hundreds of mineworkers' lives,” he said.
“It brings home the inherent dangers of working in this industry, and strengthens our union's resolve to continue the fight for safe working conditions.”
