Fine for hoarding collapse doubled to $50,000 on appeal
A fine a construction company had received following a hoarding collapse at a Geelong building site has been doubled to $50,000 after an appeal.
The incident
E.J. Lyons & Sons Pty Ltd, trading as Lyons Construction, was the principal contractor for a multi-level construction project in Geelong’s CBD, having engaged separate subcontractors to erect scaffolding and hoarding at the front of the site.
Safety concerns were raised by the scaffolder in December 2021 when hoarding was attached to the scaffolding that was not designed or engineered to hold and support it. The hoarding remained in place for approximately one year, despite this warning.
The scaffolding was removed from the front of the site in December 2022 and, despite further warnings from the subcontractor, the hoarding was left unsecured, cantilevering upwards from its base.
16 temporary mesh panels were dismantled and stored behind the hoarding as the site was being prepared for the end-of-year industry shutdown. A section of hoarding collapsed around a week later.
The section of hoarding that collapsed measured 20 metres in length and 3.5 metres in height, and upon collapse damaged three parked vehicles and narrowly missed a pedestrian.
Investigation and court findings
Lyons Construction was found by a WorkSafe Victoria investigation to have failed to ensure the hoarding was designed by a qualified structural engineer, installed in accordance with engineering computations, and that it remained erect and stable at all times.
It was reasonably practicable, the court found, for the company to implement a number of safety measures, ensuring that the hoarding structure was:
- designed by a qualified structural engineer to be stable enough to withstand wind forces and impact tests;
- constructed as a self-supporting system installed according to the engineer’s designs;
- manufactured in accordance with engineering computations to ensure structural integrity; and
- built with sufficient structural capacity to resist applied loads, including wind loading and weight loading.
When new information became available, the company also failed to review and revise any measures implemented to control risks associated with the hoarding.
Appeal and WorkSafe Victoria statement
Lyons Construction had been fined $25,000 without conviction in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court in May 2025 after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure people other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
On Thursday, 17 July, following an appeal, the original sentence was set aside, with the Geelong County Court instead ordering the company pay a fine of $50,000 with conviction. $6289 in costs was also ordered to be paid by Lyons Construction.
“There are numerous safety measures that regulate the design and building of hoarding on construction sites to control the obvious risk of serious injury or death from incidents like this,” WorkSafe Victoria Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said.
“People should be able to walk past a construction site and trust that it is up to legal standards and not posing a risk to their health and safety,” Jenkin added, saying that the company had ignored its responsibility as a duty holder, leaving the safety of pedestrians to chance.
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