In July SafetyNet reported on the prosecution of WW Masonry Pty Ltd for failing to provide a safe workplace and failure to comply with an improvement notice after an employee fell from non-compliant scaffold, fracturing two vertebra and collapsing his lung. The company did not present for the hearing and the Magistrates’ court found them guilty and imposed a total fine of $32,500.
On appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions the case has been re-heard in the County Court.
In re-sentencing WW Masonry, the Court noted that the risk of falling from height was obvious and grave, and that owing to the identified defects of the scaffold there was a reasonable likelihood that the risk would eventuate. WW Masonry itself had recognised the risks in its Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), despite the SWMS being inadequate.
The impact of the injuries sustained by the employee were significant, requiring surgery and the wearing of a halo brace for six weeks. The employee was very fortunate not to have suffered permanent injury or to have died as a result of the fall.
The County Court acknowledged that the fines imposed by the Magistrates' Court were too low having regard to the maximum penalty and the objective seriousness of the offending.
The Magistrates’ Court orders were set aside, with the County Court re-sentencing WW Masonry to fines totalling $110,000, with conviction.
Employers have a duty to eliminate or reduce the well-known risks of working at heights. Failure to install compliant scaffold or other fall prevention devices, led to this employee’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, as well as on our OHS Reps Prevention of Falls page.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria