WorkSafe Victoria | A property renovation and maintenance company has been fined $100,000 after a contractor’s fall at a Campbellfield factory left him with catastrophic injuries.
Konstrukteur Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to ensure people other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
The company was fined with conviction and also ordered to pay costs of $5,373.
In April 2023, a 35-year-old labourer and the site supervisor were tasked with installing new corrugated iron sheets as part of roof rectification works at the factory.
The pair, neither of whom were wearing a harness, used an elevated work platform to access the rooftop and began removing the old sheets one by one, each time exposing an open void, which was then covered by a replacement sheet.
After one of the sheets was removed, the supervisor turned his back and did not see the labourer fall 5.5 metres through the void to the concrete floor below.
The labourer was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and placed on life-support before undergoing multiple surgeries. He now requires 24/7 care because of the injuries.
A WorkSafe investigation found that Konstrukteur prepared a safe work method statement (SWMS), but it was not signed off or made available to workers and was not specific to the site.
The court heard none of the workers on site had been provided with training for safe working at height, despite the falls risks associated with the works being undertaken.
The company admitted it was reasonably practicable to have reduced the risk of falls by ensuring the work was performed in line with a prepared SWMS and by ensuring workers used a fall arrest system, such as safety harnesses.
