About 100 people gathered on Monday morning for a ceremony to farewell a Sydney construction worker who died in August after a tragic crane accident at the University of Canberra's public hospital work site.
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The ceremony, which followed the man's funeral in Sydney, included a traditional Ngunnawal smoking ceremony to cleanse the construction site that CFMEU ACT secretary Dean Hall described as a "very appropriate ceremony".
It is understood the man died after a small crane on the site toppled, with the boom striking him, on August 4 this year.
Mr Hall said he was touched by the ceremony, which he said would help to heal and "strengthen the spirit" of those who worked alongside the man.
"I think given the circumstances, it was quite a timely, appropriate and respectful ceremony and having seen the Ngunnawal ceremony, I think it's something we'd probably like to see every time there's a fatality at a construction workplace.
"There's still a lot of people hurting and I think people really took the ceremony away with them and they're wanting their spirit to be strengthened, so it was a real mark of respect for him and everyone affected."
Employees from the main contractor Brookfield Multiplex and subcontractors who worked alongside the man joined representatives from the CFMEU, ACT Health and WorkSafe ACT for the formal ceremony on Monday morning.
The circumstances surrounding the man's death are being investigated by WorkSafe ACT and ACT Policing, with a report being prepared for the Territory's coroner.
Work resumed after the ceremony at the construction site on University of Canberra's Bruce campus.
