** UPDATE - Fortescue CEO Nev Power has released a video response to recent reports, it is accessible below **

A string of incidents and concerns for the future have prompted a probe into safety at mines in Western Australia.

The safety record of Fortescue Metals (FMG) is looking pretty rough, with four incidents this month alone at the Solomon Hub iron ore mines in the Pilbara region of WA.

Late last year, the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) issued an extraordinary safety directive to FMG, forcing it to mend it ways after two deaths in six months at the Christmas Creek iron ore mine.

The latest incidents at the Solomon site included a leg injury caused by a forklift, evidence of three workers being too close to a blast zone during a detonation, and several incidents of water truck near-misses and rolls.

Fortescue’s arrangement for the operation of the Solomon Mines is fairly abstract. FMG has no supervisors on site and only a small number of managers, operating its diggings through contracts with construction giant, Leighton Holdings.

Reports say FMG has been satisfied with Leighton’s running of the mines, but the practice is not without critics.

A member of WA’s Mining Industry Advisory Committee says changes to state law have been proposed which would see miners and contractors take greater responsibility.

“I think it will be a bit clearer than, when there are contractors, both the principal and the contractor share ownership of safety,” said geologist Peta Libby from the Mining Industry Advisory Committee.

The tragic cases that prompted the closer look at FMG’s safety both occurred at the Christmas Creek mine, which is now a key focus of investigations.

The WA DMP will look at Fortescue’s management systems, workshops and other facilities, as well as their isolation and lock out processes.

Isolation and lock out procedures are in place to make sure dangerous machinery is rendered safe, by powering-off and being tagged, before it is cleaned or repaired.

“An ineffectual isolation and lock out/tag out process,” appears to have been involved in 33-year-old contractor Allen Zuvela’s death last year, according to WA Department of Mines executive director of safety, Simon Ridge.

Fortescue says it is reviewing its machinery safety protocols and broader procedures.

The company has also purchased the business it contracted for some crushing services, which led to the recent death of an employee. Insiders say this is intended as a move towards better in-house safety management.

Chief executive Nev Power says FMG cares about safety.

“I would like to make it absolutely clear that no one on a Fortescue site is ever expected to do anything which compromises safety,” he said.