Bricklaying company has fall fine more than tripled on appeal
WW Masonry Pty Ltd was convicted and fined a total of $32,500 in July 2025 over two-metre fall at a residential construction site; however, on appeal, the Melbourne County Court set aside the original sentence, convicting the company and ordering it to pay $80,000 for failing to provide or maintain a safe working environment and $30,000 for failing to comply with an improvement notice. The company was also ordered to pay $5023 in costs.
The incident occurred in February 2023. A worker was laying bricks from the upper level of a scaffolding system that had been divided into two decks, with roughly a one-metre height difference between them. When attempting to climb down the side rails of the scaffold to get to the lower deck, he lost his grip and fell backwards towards the building. He landed on the lower deck before falling a further two metres through a 58-centimetre gap between the deck and the building, hitting the ground headfirst.
Fractured vertebrae, a collapsed right lung, and bruises and grazes to the head and body were sustained by the worker, and he required surgery and was in a halo brace for six weeks. Mid rails were not installed on the side of the scaffold adjacent to the building, a WorkSafe Victoria investigation found — something which is a requirement under the Australian Standards when the gap is greater than 22.5 centimetres. Mid rails on the external facing edges of the scaffold were also missing, along with scaffold ties, kickboards and lap boards in various locations.
It was reasonably practicable, the court heard, for WW Masonry to have ensured the scaffold was complete before allowing it to be used. WorkSafe Victoria inspectors also issued an improvement notice as the safe work method statement (SWMS) in place at the time did not specify what workers should do in the absence of guard railing; however, the company failed to provide any evidence of compliance.
“Devastatingly, hundreds of construction workers are seriously injured or killed in falls every year, yet some employers don’t seem to see such tragedies as reason enough to take the necessary steps to keep workers safe,” WorkSafe Victoria Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said. “Fall prevention is a top priority in WorkSafe’s strategy to reduce deaths and injuries and we will continue to fight for the strongest possible penalties against those who disregard their legal duties and endanger workers’ lives.”
Also facing charges in relation to the incident is the site’s principal contractor, Saw Constructions Pty Ltd, which will next appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 9 February 2026.
To prevent falls from height, WorkSafe Victoria advised that employers should:
- eliminate the risk by, where practicable, doing all or some of the work on the ground or from a solid construction;
- use passive fall prevention devices such as scaffolds, perimeter screens, guardrails, safety mesh or elevating work platforms;
- use a positioning system, such as a travel-restraint system, to ensure employees work within a safe area;
- use a fall arrest system, such as a harness, catch platform or safety net, to limit the risk of injuries in the event of a fall; and
- use a fixed or portable ladder, or implement administrative controls.
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