Update on Prahran scaffold collapse

WorkSafe Victoria has issued three safety improvement notices at the site of the recent scaffold collapse in Commercial Road, Prahran, in Melbourne’s inner south-east.

The notices require safety assessment of the remaining scaffolds on the east and southern side of the residential and commercial building and for the development of a scaffold management system. The scaffold cannot be used until that work has been done.

The incident is the subject of a comprehensive WorkSafe investigation. It is likely to take some months.

The Director of WorkSafe’s Construction and Utilities Division, Chris Webb, said the incident was a reminder to the wider construction industry about the need to ensure safety standards were applied at all times: “Construction is a high-risk, high-consequence industry unless dangers are constantly assessed and eliminated as far as practicable. Safety has to be paramount.

“Victoria’s workplace health and safety laws require employers to provide and maintain a safe workplace to ensure the safety of employees and people other than employees, including sub-contractors and members of the public.

“It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure work is done safely, that employees are consulted on health and safety issues and that appropriate maintenance of equipment, supervision and training is carried out. Because building sites are constantly changing places, that work must be ongoing to ensure changes on site do not create new risks.

“WorkSafe conducts about 10,000 enforcement visits each year in Victoria’s construction industry, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the people in charge of and working in the industry.”