Construction union UCATT are calling for both Crossrail and its main contractors to undertake urgent action after a leaked safety report revealed a "culture of spying and fear". It added that workers were "afraid to report [accidents] due to the likelihood of being laid off".

Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "This is a devastating report which shows the appalling state of industrial relations at Crossrail. This is clearly having a massive impact on safety and is placing workers in danger.

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"Crossrail and its major contractors need to provide urgent answers about how this climate of fear has arisen. The client and the contractors need to sit down with UCATT in order to ensure that morale and confidence is restored on the project to improve safety."

Safety concerns on Crossrail have increased following the death of Rene Tkacik on the project last month. In 2013, there were a total of 39 reportable accidents on Crossrail with an accident frequency rate of 0.48 accidents for every 100,000 hours worked. The accident rate on Crossrail is over four times the accident rate on the Olympic Park which was 0.11 accidents for every 100,000 hours worked when that project was at its peak.

(CD)