Builder fined $100,000 after worker falls nearly three metres
27 Nov 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
Adcon Vic Pty Ltd has been fined $100,000 after a worker fell about 2.95 metres from an unprotected edge on a construction site. The worker suffered concussion, a sprained ankle and vertigo.
The Melbourne Magistrates' Court sentenced Adcon in its absence on Tuesday 19 November after finding it guilty of one charge of failing to provide a safe workplace. The company was also ordered to pay $6,726 in costs.
The court heard Adcon had been subcontracted to construct the site's concrete superstructure and had engaged a labour hire company to operate the tower cranes needed for the work.
In August 2022, a dogman employed by the labour hire company was directed to help lift and move materials on the sixth level into an exclusion zone on the same floor. The area was outside the completed framework and had several unprotected edges. His concerns about working there were dismissed.
While steadying a load being lowered by a crane, the worker stepped backwards three or four times and fell from the ledge to the level below. He was taken to hospital.
The court found Adcon could reasonably have reduced the fall risk by installing flagging and/or safety bollards at least two metres from live edges where a physical barrier was not practical. It also found the company should have prevented access to the exclusion zone until those measures were in place.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said ignoring the dangers of unprotected edges on construction sites was unacceptable. "This case highlights the serious consequences of taking shortcuts on safety and has sadly left a worker with ongoing health battles," Mr Jenkin said.
"It is extremely frustrating and simply unacceptable that falls continue to be one of the biggest causes of death and serious injury on Victorian construction sites when the risks and the ways to manage them are so well known."
WorkSafe's release advised employers to use the highest possible measures from the five levels of the hierarchy of controls to prevent falls from height.
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