Worker has died in a freak accident during road construction work on Perth’s Mitchell Highway

A worker was killed at a construction site after being hit by a concrete grid being lifted by an excavator.

Emergency crews were called to the Warwick Road exit of the Mitchell Freeway in Greenwood, north Perth, at around 11.50am on Thursday.

The 35-year-old man was taken to Royal Perth Hospital by paramedics from St John WA with serious head injuries and died a short time later.

The southbound exit was closed well into the afternoon as police launched an investigation to prepare a report for the coroner.

Footage from the crime scene shows police cordoning off the street and forensic investigators examining an excavator while the man’s exhausted colleagues stood nearby.

WorkSafe confirmed it was also investigating the circumstances surrounding the death “to ensure compliance and prevent future incidents”.

“The man is believed to have been hit by a piece of falling equipment,” a WorkSafe spokesman said.

Commissioner Sally North described the incident as a “tragedy” and expressed her condolences to the man’s family and friends.

The tragedy has brought the death toll at construction sites in Western Australia to 10 this year, according to CFMEU state secretary Mick Buchan.

He also expressed the union’s condolences to the worker’s family and announced an investigation into the matter.

The man suffered serious head injuries and was taken to hospital where he later died, sparking separate investigations by WA Police, WorkSafe and the CFMEU

Mr Buchan said the incident “involved an excavator and hoists” but refused to speculate on the details, pointing out that a “worker tragically did not return home today”.

“Again we are faced with another death that was entirely avoidable and should never have happened,” he said, according to the West Australian.