A 47-year-old boilermaker died early Saturday morning at South32's Worsley Alumina refinery near Collie, Western Australia, about 200 kilometres south of Perth. Emergency services were called just before 4am, and the man died at the scene despite immediate first aid.
South32 confirmed the deceased was a contractor and expressed sympathies to his family. The company is cooperating with authorities and providing support and counselling to the contractor's colleagues.
WorkSafe is investigating the incident, with Commissioner Sally North calling it a tragedy. Police are preparing a report for the coroner.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union state secretary Steve McCartney offered condolences and said the union will investigate whether safety procedures were followed. “We’ll be making sure, if there have been any mistakes, then those mistakes don’t happen again,” he said.
