Ability Works fined after worker's staircase death
02 June 2026•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
Ability Works Australia Pty Ltd has been fined after a legally blind worker who used a walker died following an incident on stairs at its Kew workplace.
The company was sentenced without conviction in Melbourne County Court after pleading guilty to one charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment without risks to health.
The court also made an adverse publicity order requiring Ability Works to publish details of the offence, its consequences and the penalty in an industry publication.
The court heard that supported employees at the not-for-profit ate together in an upstairs meals room. Access from the lower floor was via two flights of stairs joined by a mid-landing, or a wheelchair-accessible passenger lift.
In December 2022, a colleague found the 66-year-old worker upside down on the staircase, with her head on the mid-landing. Her walker remained upright at the top of the stairs. She was taken to hospital and later died from her injuries.
WorkSafe's investigation identified an earlier near miss in August 2022. On that occasion, the same worker was seen at the top of the staircase with her walker hanging over the edge of the first step.
Ability Works accepted that it was reasonably practicable to reduce the risk of serious injury or death by ensuring workers with identified impairments did not approach or access the staircase from upstairs without adequate supervision during meal breaks.
WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said the incident and its tragic outcome were preventable. "It's disappointing to know there was a close call just months before this tragedy occurred and the appropriate safety improvements, such as providing supervision around the meal break room, weren't put in place and adhered to," Mr Jenkin said.
"All workers, including those with vision and mobility impairments and other vulnerabilities, deserve to work in a place where their health and safety is and always will be a priority."
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