The death of a 43-year-old man who was pinned by a trailer has been described as "terrible" and "heartbreaking".
The man, who worked for a local civil excavation company, was crushed to death by a heavy vehicle near a construction site on Gordon Ford Way, Taylor on Wednesday morning.
On Thursday morning, a lone bouquet of flowers lay near the scene of death, wet with rain and resting on a muddy ground.
CFMEU ACT branch secretary Zachary Smith called the incident a "significant tragedy" which served as a "heartbreaking reminder" of the need to prioritise workplace safety.
"This is another worker in the ACT who won't return home," he said.
Work Health and Safety Commissioner Jacqueline Agius called the death "distressing."
"Our thoughts are very much with the loved ones of the worker and his colleagues. This was a terrible and distressing incident," she said.
"As we get close to the end of what has without a doubt been a challenging year, I urge workers, employers and the ACT community to always, without exception, put safety first."
While not referring to this death, Mr Smith said fatigue was a concern in the lead up to Christmas.
"There is always a significant push at the end of the year to get things done before the Christmas break," he said.
"We are worried what this means for safety, we want to make sure every worker goes home for Christmas."
The union representative said projects were being rushed to be completed before Christmas. The COVID-19 lockdown left the industry six weeks behind on construction.
"Obviously a worker that is fatigued, their decision making is less reliable," he said.
"We are starting to see examples of sites doing long hours to get things finished, it's no excuse."
A neighbour on adjoining Crone Terrace, Zen, said he had seen a police car and an ambulance at around 12pm on Wednesday but was not aware of what had happened. He did not want to share his surname.
On Thursday morning a construction worker, not associated with the worksite, pointed out the location of the incident. They said the incident had occurred near a rock retaining wall across the road from the construction site.
The rock wall adjoined a concrete staircase leading up to a vacant block of land.
The construction site was composed of a steep block with an excavator parked on site, The Canberra Times understands the residential block was in the process of being 'cut in' for development to begin.
There are currently no completed homes on the street, with construction underway on multiple blocks.
A joint investigation by ACT policing and WorkSafe ACT has confirmed the incident occurred on a public road, not on a worksite, and as a result be included in the road toll.
