Mining services company Thiess won't say if it acted on a coroner's tyre safety recommendations before one of its workers died at a Queensland coal mine.
A tyre on a large mining truck exploded early on Monday, killing a contractor at the Dawson coal mine in the Bowen Basin.
The blast left a second contractor seriously injured.
It was the fourth tyre blast death on a Queensland mine site in the last 11 years.
Thiess has said the two men were carrying out a "maintenance procedure" and would not say if they'd been changing a tyre.
Just last year, Coroner David O'Connell examined a tyre blast death in Queensland, which killed Foxleigh mine contractor Wayne Robert MacDonald in December 2010.
Mr MacDonald had just helped fit a replacement tyre to a coal haulage truck, and was still under the vehicle when it was lowered back to the ground.
As that happened, the tyre exploded and a percussive shockwave hit Mr MacDonald's chest with fatal force.
The coroner made several recommendations to improve safety for workers who have to deal with tyres on mining vehicles.
He ordered all mine site managers and their contractors to review tyre management practices by December 9 last year, to ensure tyres were being properly inflated, repaired and not left on vehicles for too long.
Mr O'Connell also said every tyre, whether new or repaired, that was to be fitted to a mine vehicle should be inflated and left for 20 minutes in the safety of a protective cage to ensure it was safe for use.
Thiess on Tuesday would not say if it had acted on any of the coroner's recommendations, at any of its work sites, because it didn't want to compromise the investigation into the Dawson mine death.
"Thiess will work closely with safety authorities to fully investigate the incident," it said in a statement issued after the death.
Queensland's mines department said the circumstances of Monday's incident would form part of a Mines Inspectorate investigation.
A spokesman for the department said all mines had a legal duty of care to ensure operations were carried out safely, in a way that minimised risks for workers.
"The department's Mines Inspectorate has progressively been auditing tyre management and maintenance safety practices at Queensland mines in response to the coroner's 2014 findings and recommendations concerning the death of Wayne Robert MacDonald," he said.
He said the inspectorate had also issued 11 safety alerts and safety bulletins about tyre-related safety since 2002.
Anglo American also said in a statement it could not comment on the specifics of the incident but was co-operating fully with the Mines Inspectorate.
"We are committed to ensuring the safety of our employees and providing a safe working environment for all our workforce and contractors and will be taking every step necessary to ensure such an incident does not occur again," the statement said.
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