Construction giant Multiplex is investigating after a safety incident at the John Hunter Hospital development site last weekend which echoed a fatal accident last year.
Multiple sources told the Newcastle Herald that a tower of steel reinforcement had crashed to the ground at the site on Saturday in an accident similar to one that killed 20-year-old apprentice Harry Mcwilliam in July 2023.
No one was injured in Saturday's incident, but sources said Multiplex representatives had briefed workers on site on Monday morning.
A Multiplex spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that it was investigating.
"An incident occurred on our John Hunter Hospital construction site on the weekend," the spokesperson said.
"While no one was injured, we take all safety incidents extremely seriously and we are working with our subcontractor and the union to investigate."
One source said the reinforced steel cages were between three and six metres high and stood upright waiting for concrete to be poured around them.
Herald photographs taken on site last year show dozens of such steel reinforcement towers.
Mr Mcwilliam, from the Central Coast, was trapped under steel at the New Lambton Heights work site and died after being taken to the nearby hospital.
Multiplex said at the time that "reinforcement fell and struck a worker".
SafeWork NSW said last year that it was preparing a report on Mr Mcwilliam's death for the coroner.
The agency confirmed last year that three safety incidents, including a forklift rollover, had been reported at the John Hunter construction site before Mr Mcwilliam died.
Multiplex is completing the $835 million hospital project for the NSW government.
The Herald contacted SafeWork NSW and the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union for comment.
