SafeWork NSW heights blitz results in $972,000 in fines
04 Apr 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: SafeWork NSW
SafeWork NSW has issued $972,000 in fines halfway through its 12-month falls from heights campaign. Inspectors have visited 1,218 worksites since May 2023.
The ‘Working at Heights in Construction’ campaign was launched following a concerning increase in serious injuries and deaths linked to falls from heights. Between 2018 and 2022, falls from heights killed 17 people.
Since May 2023, inspections have resulted in 1,499 Improvement Notices, 727 Prohibition Notices and 352 Penalty Notices. Inspectors have visited commercial and residential construction sites across NSW, carried out high-visibility checks in manufacturing and warehousing, and inspected transport workplaces ahead of the busy Christmas period.
During the inspections, SafeWork found that 65 per cent of industry was choosing the highest level of safety measures first. These included fall prevention devices such as roof guardrails and scaffolding, rather than fall arrest systems such as harnesses.
Head of SafeWork NSW Trent Curtin said falls from heights remained the leading cause of traumatic fatalities on NSW construction sites. He said the 35 per cent of industry not using the highest level of safety measures needed to change, with businesses risking workplace accidents, fines and prosecution.
Mr Curtin described an inspection where a worker on a roof was not connected to a harness system. When questioned, the worker said they had been roofing for 30 years without an incident. Mr Curtin warned that inspectors would stop work, issue fines and consider prosecution against businesses and individuals disregarding the rules.
SafeWork will continue inspections targeting work at heights in 2024, beginning with a blitz on safe rooftop solar panel installation. Contractors and builders must identify height risks and control them as far as reasonably practical by implementing higher order controls.
Workers can raise workplace health and safety concerns anonymously with SafeWork on 13 10 50 or through the ‘Speak Up Save Lives’ app.
How Blue Safe can help: Our free SWMS tool can help you prepare a safe work method statement for high-risk construction work involving falls from heights, setting out the hazards and controls for the task. Create a free SWMS