Unions allege safety concerns after worker on Sydney Metro tunnel died of heart attack

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.

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.

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.

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.

The spokesperson for Sydney Metro denied it was scores of workers.