Design ‘N’ Build Pty Ltd is a small builder of residential dwellings with no employees, engaging subcontractors to complete its projects. In a case that illustrates that responsibility for health and safety cannot be contracted out, Design ‘N’ Build has been fined $17,000 for failing to protect a subcontractor from a fall that resulted in multiple fractures to both of his arms and his nose.
Design ‘N’ Build were engaged in 2022 as a principal contractor to construct two new two-storey homes in Mount Waverley. Design ‘N’ Build in turn engaged Auspun Network Pty Ltd (trading as KK Homes) to perform the role of site supervisor at the workplace. Design ‘N’ Build and Auspun together engaged Iron Up Australia Pty Ltd to supply steel framing and install it at the workplace. Iron Up then engaged a number of contractors to carry out the steel framing work.
In January 2023, four of the contractors engaged by Design ‘N’ Build were at the workplace installing yellow tongue flooring and steel framing on the upper floors of both units. A steel frame which had not yet been installed fell over and hit a contractor, causing him to fall from the upper floor onto the ground, then the steel frame fell onto him.
As a result of his injuries the contractor has had two surgeries on his left arm, with plates and a rod inserted and will require further surgery in the future. Since the incident, he has experienced severe physical, psychological and financial difficulties.
WorkSafe Inspectors attended the site on the day of the incident and observed that the contractor had fallen 3.23 metres and that there was no fall protection around the upper floor, nor window or stair void protection.
Employers have a duty to eliminate or reduce the well-known risks of working at heights. Failure to install a proprietary guard rail system or perimeter scaffold, and to install a proprietary stair void protection and access ladder, led to this contractor’s serious injuries.
Falls from height at Victorian construction sites accounted for 17 fatalities between December 2020 and December 2024. During the same period there were 1,898 approved injury claims from falls from heights in construction, with the average age of the injured between 20-29 years.
You can find guidance from WorkSafe about how to eliminate or reduce the risk of falls in your workplace at Fall prevention | WorkSafe Victoria. It covers everything from preventing falls when accessing shelves, to preventing falls on construction sites and at quarries.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria