WorkSafe ACT shuts down more construction sites after second investigation following workplace death

The ACT's workplace compliance watchdog has completed a four-week inquiry into 84 construction sites across the territory.

More than 120 notices were issued to construction sites during the four weeks and 54 sites were given a prohibition notice, meaning those sites will be forced to cease work until breaches are rectified.

ACT work safety commissioner Greg Jones said while compliance had improved since the January investigation there was still a long way to go.

"We are still seeing concerning issues with working from heights, unsafe scaffolding, electrical issues, no safety planning through safe work method statements and potential slips, trips and falls," he said.

"These are the same issues we see time and again, and it is clear that many builders and contractors in this sector do not consider the safety of their workers as important.

"I think this attitude is completely unacceptable and I can assure all operators in the residential construction sector that WorkSafe will be holding them to account."

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In a separate investigation in January, WorkSafe ACT examined 28 sites and of those, 19 were shut down.

The building site crackdown followed the deaths of two construction workers at Denman Prospect building sites.

In January, a 47-year-old man died in January at an under-construction townhouse complex, after a pallet of roof tiles fell on him.

Earlier this month, a 60-year-old man died after falling from a construction site.

Mr Jones said the body would continue to scrutinise the residential building sector.

"The residential construction industry needs to lift their game and ensure that safety standards are in place to protect their workers," he said.

"No deadline or paycheck is worth risking your worker's safety. Make safety your number one priority for all tasks, no matter how small or simple the job may seem to be."

Master Builders ACT chief executive Michael Hopkins said the results of the audit should be made public.

"After the first fatality we have been working with WorkSafe, and we welcome greater auditing and enforcement," he said.

"I think this [results of the audit] shows that there is still a lot of work to be done, and that industry and the regulator need to stay on the front foot.

"What we have seen in the commercial and civil space is that safety stats have improved after an audit.

"Often when we are talking about safety or building quality, we are targeting the bottom few per cent. As an industry, we don't have patience for them."

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union ACT secretary Jason O'Mara said 200-plus notices in two "safety blitzes" showed the need for an independent regulator to oversee compliance.

"It's a terrible tragedy two workers have been killed, but if we are going to learn anything from this it's not repeating mistakes in the past," he said.

It comes as the CFMEU revealed last week, following an investigation into the January death, it believed a workforce of trafficked migrant workers were being used to build residential homes in the ACT.

While Mr O'Mara could not comment on the specifics of the investigation he said the union looked at the employment practices of the workers at the site and there were a number of irregularities around that.