The death of a New Zealander, Daniel Williams, 26, at the Kanowna Belle gold mine about 20km east of Kalgoorlie, has triggered calls for an Australian Parliamentary inquiry into mine safety.
Mr Williams fell from an ore path at the mine about 1.40am on Friday, and died at the scene, the West Australian newspaper reported.
"A male worker has fallen on a piece of equipment out there and when mine rescue teams got to him he was deceased," WA Police spokesman Greg Lambert said. A government safety watchdog is investigating the accident.
Mr Williams' death was the fourth fatality in the industry this year and the eighth in the past 14 months -- the state's worst stretch of mining tragedies in more than a decade.
The New Zealander died after miner BHP Billiton's head of iron ore Ian Ashby labelled his group's safety record -- which includes five fatalities in the past 12 months -- "abysmal" during this week's Diggers and Dealers conference in Kalgoorlie, Mr Ashby warned about widespread complacency in the mining industry.
Australian Workers' Union branch secretary Stephen Price called for a parliamentary inquiry into mine safety.
"There has been a tragically high number of fatalities in that industry in the past 12-18 months," Mr Price said.
"It needs to be an inquiry from the ground up. It must involve the workers and let them be open and honest without any fear of retribution."
Unions WA secretary Simone McGurk said there were too few safety inspectors scrutinising WA mine sites. National laws are being drafted.
Last week mine safety campaigner Helen Fitzroy demanded an independent support agency for families of miners killed at work.
Mrs Fitzroy, 52, was widowed 18 years ago when her husband, Steve, was killed at a Norseman gold mine.
