Young worker's fatal fall lands construction company $150K fine

A construction company has been convicted and fined $150,000 after a 23-year-old worker fell three metres through an unprotected stair void to the concrete floor and later died.

The incident occurred September 2022 on a Glen Waverley building site. The worker — engaged by a carpenter contracted by the company to build frames and erect roof trusses for a number of multi-storey townhouses — was carrying lengths of steel along the first floor when he fell through an open stair void three metres to the concrete floor below. Suffering serious head injuries, he later died in hospital.

After pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health, the company was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court.

As the site’s principal contractor, it was reasonably practicable for the company to eliminate or reduce the risk of death or serious injury due to a fall, WorkSafe Victoria said, by restricting access to the first floor until perimeter guardrails had been installed around the stair void, and access was made using a ladder that extended at least 90 centimetres past the first floor that was securely fastened at the top and bottom.

“It is incredibly frustrating and tragic to see another life lost to such a preventable and well-documented risk,” WorkSafe Victoria Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said. “Despite there being extensive information and guidance on ways to properly manage the risks, falls from height sadly remain the number one cause of death and serious injury in the construction industry.”

In August 2025, after pleading guilty to a single charge in relation to the incident, the sole trader of the carpentry business was sentenced to 100 hours of community work and ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.

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 nets, 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/agungsusilo. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.