The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has successfully appealed the sentences imposed on three construction companies in the wake of an apprentice falling through an unprotected skylight at a Footscray townhouse project.
In April 2024, an apprentice carpenter was working on the first level of one of five multi-storey units when he fell more than three metres through a skylight void to the ground floor, suffering a brief loss of consciousness and minor injuries.
The apprentice was employed by Calibre Construction Victoria Pty Ltd, who were sub-contracted by Kerimov Construction Pty Ltd, under the principal contractor on the site KZ Construction Group Pty Ltd.
WorkSafe inspectors attended and issued several prohibition notices to KZ Construction after determining the injured man and his co-workers had been working at heights with unprotected live edges, skylight and stair voids on the first level. Guard rails and void coverings were installed later that month before work at the site resumed.
In June 2024, a WorkSafe inspector returned to the site and observed two more workers on the second level of a unit at a height of six metres with inadequate fall protection in place. Five additional notices were issued to KZ Construction, and the companies installed guard rails on the first and second levels of all five townhouses the next day.
It was reasonably practicable for the three companies to eliminate or reduce the risk of falls by installing suitable and compliant guard railing and covering all unprotected voids. Calibre also admitted that it failed to perform work in accordance with a safe work method statement (SWMS).
The matters were referred for comprehensive investigation and all three companies with health and safety duties and responsibilities at the workplace were scoped for potential contraventions of the OHS Act.
In May 2026, both KZ Construction and Kerimov Constructions Pty Ltd were fined $20,000 without conviction and Calibre Construction Victoria Pty Ltd was fined $10,000 without conviction in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to two charges each of failing to provide a workplace that was safe and without risks to health – see our previous article.
Following the DPP’s appeal, the Melbourne County Court set aside the original sentences, instead convicting the three companies and imposing fines of $40,000 each for KZ Construction Group and Kerimov Constructions and $20,200 for Calibre Construction Victoria.
The Court noted that all three companies had demonstrated wilful disregard for the safety of employees where they were aware of the inherent risk of working at height.
The maximum applicable penalty value for failing to provide a workplace that was safe and without risks to health at the time of the incident was approximately $1.7 million.
The Victorian Government has finally responded to the Sentencing Advisory Council’s 12 recommendations for reform regarding the sentencing of OHS offences in Victoria and legislated to increase maximum penalties for aggravated breaches of Section 21 of the OHS Act. The recommendation to increase all general duty offences is accepted ‘in-principle’. The Government will review effectiveness of the new penalties and consider further increases, however, there is no clear implementation timeline on this reform.
Read more: Construction companies' fines double on appeal | WorkSafe Victoria