“I’ll love you until the end of time,” Coen Armstrong said in a tribute to his brother on Facebook.
“He was the sweetest and kindest soul,will miss you wavey davey,” a friend said.
The WA Department of Mines,Industry Regulation and Safety is investigating the incident,which is the second death at a Pilbara mine site in as many weeks. On September 17 a maintenance worker at Citic Pacific’s Sino Iron operation died from injuries after a fall.
CFMEU WA state secretary Mick Buchan said Mr Armstrong’s death was a wake-up call. Mining was a dangerous industry and nothing should be taken for granted.
“It’s a tragic event,and that young man will never come back,his family and friends,everyone,will be devastated and live with that forever,” Mr Buchan said.
“Is a high-risk occupation,and workers spend a lot of time away from home,and everyone deserves to come home at the end of every swing.”
The union leader said Worksafe and the Department of Mines needed personnel located in the North West and South West where mining occurs.