That is according to Chamber of Minerals and Energy Western Australia director Nicole Roocke, who spoke at a mine safety panel at the Safety in Action exhibition yesterday.

Held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Roocke said the mining industry had demonstrated that it could go for a period without fatalities.

She listed the main reasons for fatalities and injuries as being due to inexperienced workers and insufficient or no supervision.

“We were so close to having a two-year fatality free period, which is the first time in the history of the sector that we have been able to do that,” Roocke said.

Unfortunately in the past 10 months WA has had five fatalities, with four of those occurring in the past five months.

“When you look at the sector we have made process,” Roocke said.

“But when you look at our recent performance we wonder if we’re still making the same mistakes and if we’re learning from previous incidents.

“I’ve been in this role for 11 years and we are still having the same conversations regarding mine safety.

“We are still talking about the importance of supervision, how we can improve risk management and prioritise what we do.”

Often legislative changes were posed as the solution for safer mine sites and although they were important, according to Roocke, they were not the silver bullet.

“It can certainly force change,” she said.

“You can require companies to take certain actions in certain circumstances. But I think it can have unintended consequences, as well as detract from keeping safety simple.”

Norton Rose Fulbright special counsel and occupational, health and safety services lawyer Tom Martin said legislation could improve safety.

“It can add a greater focus on the personal responsibilities of executives to exercise due diligence and actually be engaged in safety on a day-to-day basis,” Martin said.

He said historically increased penalties, fines and regulatory enforcements had driven safety performance.