Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial at the WA Museum in Kalgoorlie WA
Abdul Razak ABU BAKAR
Age at Death35
Date Of Death20 November 1997
OccupationLoad Haul Dump Operator
Western Australian Government Gazette, Friday, 13 February 1998 No. 32
Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial at the WA Museum in Kalgoorlie WA - Photo Paul Doust
Name Of Mine On Which Last Employed
Junction GM, St Ives, Western Australia
Diagnosis or cause of accident
Rock fall onto the machinery he was using.
Place Of Burial
Guildford Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia
Submitted by
David McMillan - Volunteer
District
Kambalda
Cause of Death
Mine Accidents
Other Information
Mine giant lashed after fifth death.
Urgent reviews of Western Mining Corporation's operations have been called for following the 10th mining-related death in Western Australia this year. The body of Mr Abdul Razak Abu Bakar, 35, was found at 8 pm on Friday inside machinery he had been using during a rock fall on Thursday night in the St Ives mine, near Kambalda, just south of Kalgoorlie.
This latest tragedy has sparked heavy criticism from local parliamentary representatives who claim current WMC (now called WMC Resources Ltd) safety levels are unacceptable. The Federal MP for Kalgoorlie, Mr. Graeme Campbell, said the continuing run of major accidents and fatalities at WMC operations were a brutal symptom of a company without any sense of direction. "This is not surprising from a company that lurches from crisis to crisis and uses mass retrenchments as a management tool," Mr. Campbell said. The State Opposition spokesman for mines, Mr. Mark Nevill, said the succession of accidents with the contractor workforce at WMC operations was "alarming".
He called for a review of WMC's experiment in contracting out its mining operations in Kambalda. The death at the St Ives mine occurred only a month after the West Australian Government established a Prevention of Mining Fatalities task force in response to the outcry over the deaths in the industry. Five of the 10 mining fatalities in Western Australia this year had involved WMC, an Opposition spokesman said.
- The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, November 24, 1997 Page 3.
ABU BAKER Abdul Razak - Rock fall mining nickel ores 20/11/97 Kambalda: WORKSAFE WESTERN AUSTRALIA WORK RELATED FATALITIES
