Two companies fined $65K for failing to control fall risks

In Victoria, after failing to control fall risks on residential construction sites in Boronia and Noble Park, two companies — a recidivist builder and a metal fabricator — have been fined a total of $65,000. WAM Homes Pty Ltd was the principal contractor of both construction projects, while Wanjia Metal Works Pty Ltd was subcontracted by WAM Homes for the Noble Park project.

WorkSafe Victoria inspectors had revisited a worksite in Boronia in July 2023, the court heard, where it had previously issued WAM Homes with a prohibition notice for fall risks. Multiple workers were observed by inspectors during the visit, on the balcony of a townhouse with no perimeter guardrails or scaffolding installed; the distance between the unprotected balcony edge and the ground below was about three metres.

Inspectors attended a worksite in Noble Park in April 2024, where WAM Homes had contracted Wanjia to supply and install structural steel. The inspectors observed one worker standing on an A-frame ladder on the upper floor of a townhouse near an unprotected edge more than three metres from the ground, and another worker was at the base of the ladder with his back to the live edge. No fall protection devices or guardrails were in place. A construction induction card is required to access and perform work on construction sites, and one of the workers did not have this.

It was reasonably practicable, the court found, for WAM Homes to have reduced the risk of serious injury or death by:

• installing suitable perimeter guard railing or balustrades around the balcony of the Boronia townhouse;
• installing suitable perimeter guard railing around the upper floor of the Noble Park townhouse and ensuring a securely fixed ladder was used to access that floor;
• preparing a health and safety coordination plan for the Noble Park project; and
• ensuring work performed at the Noble Park worksite, including work performed by contractor Wanjia, was only completed by workers with a construction induction card.
   

It was reasonably practicable, Wanjia admitted, to have reduced the risk of serious injury or death at the Noble Park worksite by installing suitable perimeter guard railing around the upper floor of the townhouse, and ensuring work performed was only completed by workers with a construction induction card.

WAM Homes had a history of workplace health and safety offending and — over the fall risks identified in WorkSafe Victoria’s original visit to the Boronia worksite in 2022 — was previously fined $15,000 without conviction, the court heard. Additionally, WorkSafe issued the company with 11 improvement notices relating to working at height between December 2021 and July 2022.

On 19 September, after pleading guilty to seven charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations, WAM Homes and Wanjia Metal Works were sentenced in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court.

For four charges of failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health, WAM Homes was convicted and fined an aggregate $45,000, and $2500 for one charge of failing to ensure construction work was performed by someone with a current construction induction card.

For failing to reduce fall risks by using a passive fall prevention device, Wanjia was fined $15,000 without conviction, and $2500 without conviction for failing to ensure construction work was performed by someone with a current construction induction card. The companies were also ordered to pay $3266 in costs each.

“Seeing a company who has previously faced enforcement action and been made aware of its safety failures show the same careless attitude over and over is simply inexcusable,” said WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin.

“Fall prevention measures aren’t a box-ticking exercise to satisfy WorkSafe after a visit — they are often the difference between life and death, and employers who don’t bother implementing them are not only breaking the law but showing a complete disregard for the safety of their workers.”

WorkSafe Victoria advises that, to prevent falls from height, employers should implement the highest possible measures from the five levels in the hierarchy of controls:

• Level 1 — Eliminate the risk by, where practicable, doing all or some of the work on the ground or from a solid construction.
• Level 2 — Use a passive fall prevention device such as scaffolds, perimeter screens, guardrails, safety mesh or elevating work platforms.
• Level 3 — Use a positioning system, such as a travel-restraint system, to ensure employees work within a safe area.
• Level 4 — 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.
• Level 5 — Use a fixed or portable ladder, or implement administrative controls.
   

Image credit: iStock.com/JoeGough. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.