Bridgeworks fined $150,000 after worker falls from bridge abutment
27 Oct 2025•BlueSafe Team•Source: SafeWork NSW
Bridgeworks (Aust) Pty Ltd has been fined $150,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW after a worker fell nearly 3.85 metres from a bridge abutment at Huntley.
The SafeWork NSW prosecution followed an incident on 11 November 2022. Bridgeworks had been engaged to assist the principal contractor at the construction site, where the worker was employed to carry out formwork stripping.
Bridgeworks pleaded guilty to an offence under section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) for failing to meet its health and safety duty under section 19(1). The company has the right to appeal its sentence.
The principal contractor, Menai Civil Contractors Pty Ltd, was previously fined $69,750 in the Industrial Court of NSW over the same incident. It pleaded guilty to an offence under sections 33 and 19(1) of the Act.
Falls from heights remain a leading cause of traumatic injuries and deaths in NSW workplaces, with most occurring in construction. SafeWork NSW has placed falls from heights first among its 2025–26 regulatory priorities to prevent or reduce workplace deaths, injuries and illnesses.
SafeWork Commissioner Janet Schorer said the regulator remained committed to supporting industry and workplaces to keep workers safe at height. She encouraged businesses with workers exposed to heights to complete SafeWork NSW’s working at heights in construction safety checklist.
The full judgment against Bridgeworks is available on the NSW Caselaw website, while information about working safely at heights is available from SafeWork NSW.
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. Create a free SWMS