A worker died of a heart attack during construction of the Sydney Metro tunnel near Barangaroo station amid allegations from the unions that a defibrillator was not readily available in the construction zone.
Sydney Metro strongly disputes the union claim. However, it acknowledged additional defibrillators were deployed in the tunnels after the incident, which occurred on 6 July.
There have also been allegations the incident was initially recorded by Sydney Metro as a minor incident – indicating that a worker felt unwell – but it was later upgraded to a serious incident.
Whistleblowers inside Sydney Metro management told Guardian Australia they feel under pressure to downgrade the seriousness of safety issues, and that learnings from incidents are not being shared.
The incident has come to light as part of a Guardian investigation into safety breaches on the $40bn Sydney Metro and Metro West project.
In the last six months, these have included: a trailer-style carriage carrying equipment that decoupled and ran uncontrolled for 1.5km through the half-built tunnel; an escalator that fell four floors while being installed at Martin Place station; collapses at the Parramatta site during demolition; and crashes between large trucks that lost traction on the rails while driving into the tunnels.
The Electrical Trades Union and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union said the safety issues were “beyond alarming, they are an emergency”.
Both the ETU and CFMEU have alleged there were delays in treating the man and there was no nearby defibrillator available.
According to the ETU, which provided a picture of the defibrillator unit in the tunnel, the defibrillator was in a locked box with a glass panel, accessible via a key code. After workers were unable gain access to the box by radioing management, they had to physically remove the glass.
The ETU contended that this was a system failure in Sydney Metro’s emergency procedures.
“Our investigation revealed issues around emergency response, including accessing defibrillator and medical equipment in the tunnel,” the state secretary of the ETU (NSW), Allen Hicks, told Guardian Australia.
“This was recognised by the project, and the union’s recommendation for increased presence of the defibrillator units and first aid accessibility was adopted,” he said.
However, Sydney Metro said: “There was no problem accessing the defibrillator on the day of the incident – crew accessed a defibrillator as part of the initial response.
“There was also a qualified first aider who immediately administered CPR and continued to do so until emergency services arrived,” a spokesperson said.
“We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of the worker and have been providing appropriate support to our contractor following this incident.”
Sydney Metro said it was not aware of any union investigation and that after a post-incident review “the contractor decided to increase the number of defibrillators in the tunnels in acknowledgment of the role they played in enabling a swift response”.
SafeWork said an inspector responded to the incident and the victim was confirmed to have died of natural causes. NSW police and ambulance also attended, as is usual with a fatality.
The SafeWork officer inspected the area where the worker collapsed and interviewed staff. He concluded the work was not strenuous, air quality was satisfactory and there was no electrical work taking place, so these factors were ruled out.
His report, the Guardian understands, does not mention any issues about access to defibrillators.
Some time after the incident, the safety report was upgraded in Sydney Metro’s system from minor to severe, the whistleblower said. Sydney Metro did not respond to questions from the Guardian on this claim.
“No learnings, reports, emergency evacuation notices or otherwise have been shared with us,” the whistleblower said.
The NSW opposition leader, Chris Minns, said the story revealed by Guardian Australia of the runaway train carriage that put scores peoples of lives at risk, along with the other incidents reported, were “deeply troubling”.
The spokesperson for Sydney Metro denied it was scores of workers.
Minns said: “We need to have world-class safety regulations in this state. That’s what’s been promised. When contracts are signed with companies working on government projects, they sign up to rigorous inspections and watertight safety standards.
“I am also concerned that revelations about major safety breaches now are trickling out in the media. We need information in real-time about these incidents on these major infrastructure projects.”
