Fine for fatal roof fall rises to $250,000 on appeal

The company pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to reduce a fall risk by using a fall arrest system. In February 2025, the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court imposed a $65,000 fine without conviction. On appeal, the Melbourne County Court set that sentence aside and imposed a $250,000 fine, also without conviction.

The incident occurred in June 2022 while a 66-year-old maintenance manager was replacing polycarbonate roofing sheets on a shed at the workplace. He was working alone and had no fall protection.

The worker fell through a roofing sheet, landing on the floor 3.3 metres below. He was taken to hospital and underwent brain surgery, but died a few days later.

WorkSafe’s investigation found that the maintenance manager had no roofing qualification and that no Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) had been prepared for the work.

The court heard that using a fall arrest system, such as a safety harness, was a reasonably practicable way for the company to reduce the risk of a fall.

WorkSafe Executive Director Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said the appeal result sent employers a strong message that fall prevention was non-negotiable. “WorkSafe is extremely serious about preventing falls from height as we continue to see too many lives lost or forever changed in incidents that should never have happened,” Mr Jenkin said.

“We’re doing a significant amount of work in this space and will continue to fight for stronger penalties against employers who choose to put workers’ lives at risk, particularly when the safety solutions are well-known and readily available.”

WorkSafe offers duty holders detailed guidance on preventing falls, along with an information sheet covering risk controls when removing fragile roofing.

How Blue Safe can help: Our free SWMS tool can help you prepare a Safe Work Method Statement for high-risk construction work, including tasks involving a risk of falling from height. Create a free SWMS