Fatal Accident at Dampier Iron Ore Port

By Joel ScanlonJun 6 2011

The death of an employee has resulted in a halt in export operations for Rio Tinto from one of its terminals in Dampier iron ore port.

The contract worker was an employee of Celtic Scaffolding. He was carrying out maintenance at the East Intercourse Island when he fell into the water and was killed.

The Mines Department and the police have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident which occurred at midday on Saturday. Initial attempts made to trace the man were unsuccessful and he is feared dead. According to witnesses the scaffolding crashed and they saw a hard hat floating in the water. This is the first fatal accident that Rio Tinto has seen in the Pilbara region since August 2003.

The accident has resulted in one of the three wharves at the Dampier port in Western Australia seeing operations ceased. The wharf in question is located at East Intercourse Island. It is one of three jetties that are used to load iron ore shipments by the company. The wharf accounts for about a third of the 145 million tonnes the company exports from Dampier each year.