A WorkSafe inspector shut down a worksite after being intimidated by angry and "very large" construction union officials, a royal commission has heard.
Joseph Bartlett told the royal commission into union corruption he gave the Canberra worksite the all-clear in 2013 after CFMEU officials disrupted a concrete pour over safety concerns.
But he was intimidated into changing his mind after CFMEU ACT secretary Dean Hall got in his "personal space and shouted aggressively", he told the commission in Canberra on Tuesday.
"If you don't f****** close the site and someone dies, you'll go to jail," Mr Hall allegedly said.
He said there were "four or five angry CFMEU officials standing around me, some of whom are very large men, pressuring me to shut the site down".
Mr Bartlett conceded there were numerous safety issues on the worksite, resulting in three prohibition notices and six improvement notices from WorkSafe.
There were questions about the competence of the engineer whose report he relied upon to deem the site safe.
He admitted he had been unaware the engineer was also the site builder.
He also conceded he had limited experience on construction sites at the time.
The royal commission also heard further evidence of union officials pressuring businesses to sign enterprise bargaining agreements, this time by the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union.
Advanced Plumbing and Drains owner Jason Hooper said he agreed to sign an EBA after CEPU NSW secretary David Broadley told him the union would find safety issues with plumbers who didn't and "belt" their worksites.
"It just means they're going to go on site, make it disruptive, try and find safety issues, try and slow the builder down," Mr Hooper said.
He was told to get employees to become union members, with Mr Broadley allegedly saying: "I don't care where you get the memberships from, you just have to get me memberships".
But after Mr Hooper backed out of the deal, CEPU officials began visiting his worksites, telling builders not to use his company.
He says he caved in and signed the EBA shortly after receiving a call from the Master Builders Association telling him CFMEU ACT secretary Dean Hall would deal with him in the "old-fashioned way ... in the paddocks" if he continued the way he was.
Mr Hooper denied the call related to him having referred to Tongan and Maori CFMEU officials as "monkeys" and "apes".
Under questioning from the CEPU's barrister Brendan Docking, Mr Hooper admitted he could not provide examples of the union disrupting or intimidating his workers.
He also denied making an employee redundant days after learning he was a union member and that he only paid redundancy entitlements after the union stepped in.
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