Construction company faces charges after worker's four-metre fall
19 Mar 2026•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
IntraAust Properties Pty Ltd faces six charges after a 28-year-old worker fell almost four metres while using a chainsaw from an A-frame ladder in March 2024.
The worker was trying to cut a tree branch when he fell from the ladder to the ground.
The company faces four charges under section 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act over alleged failures to provide and maintain a working environment that was safe and without risks to health, so far as reasonably practicable.
WorkSafe alleges two breaches of section 21(2)(a) of the Act: failing to engage a qualified arborist or tree removal specialist, and failing to provide employees with a temporary work platform or a telescopic long chainsaw.
The allegations also include a breach of regulation 44(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations for failing to use a passive fall prevention device to reduce fall risks. A further alleged breach, under regulation 327(1)(a), concerns the failure to prepare a safe work method statement (SWMS) for the work.
IntraAust Properties faces another two charges under section 26(1) of the Act for allegedly failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health.
A filing hearing is listed at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 20 March 2026.
How Blue Safe can help: Our free SWMS tool can help you prepare a safe work method statement for high-risk construction work, including work involving fall risks. Create a free SWMS