It has been revealed that the Western Australia workplace safety regulator visited a construction site at Curtin Univerity three times before the death of a worker earlier this week.
WorkSafe has confirmed that they are investigating the site of the ceiling collapse, but have also explained that the investigation process may take up to three years before results are released to the public.
An apprentice glazier was killed when the ceiling gave way earlier this week, when he and a colleague fell 20 metres. Following the tragic incident, both the Electrical Trades Union WA branch organsier, Damian Clancey, and the CFMEU WA state secretary, Mick Buchan, said there had been safety concerns raised by workers at the site, prior to the collapse.
“It seems to me that Lendlease (the builder) was well aware of an issue to the point where they brought a surveyor out here last week to determine the levels of sag in the steel after they put about half of the glass up,” Mr Clancey said at the time.
Darren Kavanagh, the WorkSafe Commissioner, has not confirmed whether any formal complaints had been received but said any safety claims that were made would be investigated.
WorkSafe has confirmed that inspectors had visited the site three times prior to the incident, and three times after.
“Some of those have been through queries from people on the site and some had been scheduled,” Mr Kavanagh said.
Mr Kavanagh urged any workers who witnessed the incident or who were present to reach out to support networks.
“These incidents can be traumatic and it’s important that workers that are experiencing issues with their mental health talk to their mates, talk to industry experts, and get advice,” he said.