Australia's mining industry needs to do more to prevent single fatalities on sites and should be spending money "engineering out" hazards, according to a workplace safety expert.
The industry's safety standards are in the spotlight in Western Australia after a series of deaths and injuries at mine sites over the past week.
A 59-year-old contractor was killed at Capricorn Metals Karlawinda gold mine in the Pilbara on Thursday after the light vehicle he was travelling in was run over by a large dump truck.
It came just days after a 37-year-old fly-in, fly-out worker from Perth was killed at St Ives' underground gold operation in the Goldfields.
WA Worksafe mine safety inspectors have confirmed they are also investigating an incident at the Kanowna Belle mine near Kalgoorlie on Saturday night that injured two workers.
University of New South Wales Emeritus Professor Michael Quinlan has analysed mine deaths around the world and said while Australia's mine safety reputation is far ahead of most other countries, more work needs to be done.
"A hundred years ago, a lot more miners were killed in disasters than today ... disasters are very rare in Australian mines," he said.
"The Australian mining industry has come a long way, due to the companies, the regulations and laws and the unions.
"But there's still the issue of single fatalities still occurring and are they preventable? Absolutely."
WorkSafe mines safety inspectors are continuing to investigate what caused both mine deaths last week, but police said the 59-year-old contractor who died on the Pilbara mine site was inside a light vehicle that was run over by a dump truck.
Professor Quinlan said while he is not aware of the specifics, vehicle interactions are a common hazard on mine sites and there are important questions to be asked.
"They should look at the roadways, the line of sight at intersections, they should be looking at to what extent they can actually separate the movements of light vehicles and heavy vehicles on site," he said.
"Traffic conditions on open cut mines are a really major area and if there isn't more regulatory guidance about how to deal with this, I think that would be something that the regulators should be looking at doing too and what lessons they can learn from other sites in terms of that particular type of hazard."
He said preventing single and double fatality incidents, like vehicle interactions, should be a focus for the industry.
"I have absolutely no doubt that the mining industry can make further progress in that area and make our mines both incredibly productive and incredibly safe," he said.
"We are world leaders, but we need to work more on this area."
Professor Quinlan, who was an expert investigator for the Beaconsfield gold mine incident in 2006, said while worker safety training is important, it is better to eliminate or control hazards.
"If you engineer the hazard out, then you're relying less on people's behaviour to protect them from serious events and the system is more forgiving for people making mistakes, which they do on occasion," he said.
"[The industry] has to really show a lot of attention to safety and be prepared to spend some money on it in terms of engineering our hazards."
The Minerals Council of Australia has been contacted for comment.
Union seeking assurances ahead of mine reopening
While the Hamlet underground mine, which is part of the St Ives gold operation near Kambalda has reopened after last week's death, mining operations at Capricorn Metal's site near Newman are still suspended.
Capricorn Metals has not said when the site will reopen, but the national secretary of the Australian Workers' Union Daniel Walton understands it could be this week.
"The mine site will try to reopen at some point in time and we want to make sure that we have at least an understanding of the circumstances surrounding that accident so that when it does reopen it can do safely and every worker can return to work safely," Mr Walton said.
Mr Walton confirmed union representatives visited the Pilbara site this week and met with company representatives and workers.
"For a lot of workers, it is a deeply tragic time," he said.
"Most people work in the industry for a long period of time; they've worked alongside them they know them, they know their families, they're good mates and workmates.
"For a lot of workers now this process is about going through counselling and getting support to help them come to terms with what's happened."
MACA Limited, which employed the contractor who was killed at the Pilbara mine site, has said it will provide direct support to the families and co-workers of those involved in the incident.
Call for transparency on findings
Any findings from the two mine deaths last week are expected to take some time, but Mr Walton urged the mines regulator and the companies involved to be transparent about findings.
"Transparency goes a long way to help give people some comfort and confidence that the right things are happening," he said.
"I know that the natural reaction for companies and for regulators is not to say a great deal of information as to what has happened, and I don't think that necessarily helps people move on.
"Obviously, it's very, very early days at the moment, but I think we should be sharing a little bit more and the department should play a more active role in communicating information, not just in terms of the circumstances around it, but also to help provide advice to the workers right across the board as to things to watch out for and avoid."
