Construction company fined $35 for falling object
Caelli Constructions (Vic) Pty Ltd owned a perimeter protection screen installed at a construction site comprising a 61 story apartment development in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, and was responsible for raising the perimeter protection screens as new levels were erected.
In November 2017, the protective screens surrounding the upper levels of the apartment tower were being raised. A screen in the north-west corner of the tower had already been raised and employees were conducting a post-lift phase of the process, which involved removing all loose items and protective flaps from the affected levels and then reinstating all of the protective flaps and coverings for gaps between the screen and the slab edge. As part of this phase, a worker was using an angle grinder to remove two threaded rods, precast into the slab, on the 33rd floor. The outer rod rolled off the slab edge and fell to the ground below. This created a risk to persons other than employees who were at ground level, at or in close proximity, of serious injury or death.
The company pleaded guilty, had one relevant prior conviction, and was with conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $35,000 and to pay costs of $4,822.
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