A solar installation company, JSD Electricals Pty Ltd, has received a fine of $30,000 with conviction after a site visitor fell approximately 4m through a shed skylight.
Section.26(1) of the OHS Act requires persons who have the management and control of a workplace to ensure that the workplace and the means of entering and leaving it are safe and without risk.
In April 2024 JSD Electricals were engaged to install a solar panel system on a dairy farm shed located in Gazette. On that day a friend of the company director travelled to the workplace to sightsee and observe the operations on the dairy farm.
JSD Electricals workers set up a ladder and climbed onto the roof of the shed to take measurements in preparation for the solar panels to be installed. Without the crew’s knowledge, the director’s friend also used the same ladder to climb onto the roof. While on the roof, the director’s friend walked onto a section of corrugated skylight sheeting which collapsed beneath him, causing him to fall approximately 4 meters to the ground below. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
WorkSafe inspectors attended the workplace after the incident and noted that there was no exclusion zone or fall protection around the skylights, and the Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) that had been prepared for the task and included a warning “to stay off skylights”, did not contain any instruction for fall protection around skylights.
WorkSafe's investigation showed that JSD Electricals had been involved in three separate interactions with WorkSafe in relation to solar installation works at different sites where there was a risk of persons falling from a height. In relation to at least two of those interactions, JSD Electricals had been referred to guidance materials that specifically addressed the risk of falling through fragile roof surfaces such as skylights and polycarbonate sheeting. It is clear that by April 2024 JSD Electricals were well aware of the seriousness of the risk and the measures that could be taken to reduce the risk.
To remedy the omission and manage the risk after the incident JSD Electricals covered the skylight with iron roof sheeting and updated its SWMS to include physical measures for fall protection around skylights, along with appropriate directions to its employees.
JSD Electricals acknowledged to the Court that it had failed to make the workplace safe by delineating the area of fragile roofing with physical barriers such as temporary fencing or guard railing or by securely covering the skylights.
WorkSafe provides guidance to employers on managing the risk of falls through skylights and solar panel installation in their Falls through skylights, fragile roofs, voids and penetrations and Working safely at height during solar installations technical solution sheets.
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