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BHP's book of the lost found - ledger of fallen workers

By Ian Kirkwood
Updated September 24 2019 - 11:27am, first published July 19 2015 - 9:55pm

In a historic gesture, BHP Billiton has made available a long-sought-after register of people killed at the Newcastle steelworks. A worn folder with the single word ‘‘Fatalities’’ on its cover, it was obtained by BHP from its Victorian archives after a Newcastle Herald column calling on the company to search for the book. BHP says 133 of the 189 names listed died employment-related deaths. But the Herald has added about 50 names  – taking the total of work-related deaths to about 180. ‘‘This is the holy grail,’’ the Newcastle Industrial Heritage Association’s Aubrey Brooks said.

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