A lack of information about a workplace accident at the Port of Tauranga which resulted in a cargo worker's death is being slammed by the Maritime Union of New Zealand.

The Union today condemned both the Port of Tauranga company and the man's employer ISO Ltd, a waterfront cargo logistics company, for a 'failure in communication”.

An ISO worker died after an accident at the Port of Tauranga wharf.

The 59-year-old man died on August 22 and a tangi has been held, but the incident only became public when SunLive broke the story yesterday.

SunLive understands the ISO worker was loading pulp at the Port of Tauranga on August 16 when he suffered head injuries.

Western Bay of Plenty territory manager Ross Clarke confirmed to SunLive the man was transported by ambulance from the worksite to Tauranga Hospital.

He was then airlifted to Waikato Hospital with the assistance of an ICU team and later died.

'The failure of communication from the employer and port company is astounding and deeply disturbing,” says Maritime Union National Secretary Joe Fleetwood.

'There have been conflicting media reports about when and where the man had died, and as yet he has not even been named in public.”

Worksafe New Zealand is investigating but police were not been informed of the incident or the death of the worker until several days after his death, says Joe.

Other port workers are in the dark as well and are not aware of what had happened, says Joe.

SunLive made attempts to contact ISO Ltd on several occasions but have not yet heard back.

The Port of Tauranga could confirm it was aware of the death but was unable to provide further details as the man was not employed directly by the port, a port spokesperson told SunLive yesterday.

Joe says some important information is yet to be confirmed such as where the injury occurred and who the principal employer was.

'Why has the employer made no public statement about the death of their employee,” says Joe. 'What were the circumstances of the death?

'When was Port of Tauranga informed by the employer about the incident and subsequent death – and why did they not make a public statement about the incident until approached by media?”

He says the confusion surrounding the situation is deplorable as workers have a right to know what is occurring in their workplace.

All maritime workers find it distasteful that no information has been placed in the public domain by the employer or Port of Tauranga since the injury or death, says Joe.

Port of Tauranga has a duty of care to workers who work within their port and that includes acknowledging this type of incident.

'It seems while a worker from the port was in hospital with fatal injuries, the Port of Tauranga put out a press statement on 21 August 2014 about their profitability, success and what they call a strong health and safety record. This attitude speaks for itself.”

Calls to ISO had not been returned when this article was published.