16 Hours to Recover Worker

It took more than16 hours to recover the body of a worker who died while working at a major Sydney construction site because he wasn’t noticed missing until the day after.

Father of two Luke Bandrowski fell into a pool near the Chatswood-Epping rail link construction site last Monday afternoon.

CFMEU health and safety officer Dick Whitehead said Bandrowdki's front-end loader was running unattended just five metres from the site's main office complex for 12 hours.

The site's swipe-card system also didn't tip anyone off to his absence.

Whitehead said Bandowski's family felt "absolute frustration" that it took so long to realise he was missing.

"His father - who has worked with the construction industry - found it impossible to believe," he said.

Whitehead said if there had of been barriers to prevent workers from falling into the water below, he may have been discovered earlier.

The union had raised concerns about the absence of barriers numerous times.

Two senior WorkCover inspectors are investigating the incident.

Bandrowski's colleagues walked of the job for a week as a mark of respect.

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Last modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 20:37:37 EST