WorkSafe Inspectors conducting site visits and following up on reports from the public have found WAM Homes Pty Ltd repeatedly breaching their duty to manage the risk of falls. WAM Homes is a construction company and should be aware of the risks associated with working at heights.
In May 2022 WorkSafe Inspectors attended a workplace in Boronia where WAM Homes was the principal contractor for the construction of 16 three storey townhouses. There they observed workers performing carpentry works in multiple locations on the first floors of Townhouses 1 - 8 within one metre of unguarded live edges and open central stair voids. No perimeter guard rails, or central stair void protection such as the installation of a safety net or sheet or compliant guard railing around the stair void had been installed to reduce the risk of workers falling over two metres from the first floor to the concrete slab below.
Inspectors issued a prohibition notice to WAM Homes for their failure to control these risks. WAM Homes pleaded guilty and was fined $15,000 without conviction.
In July 2023, WorkSafe Inspectors re-attended the Boronia site. The construction of the 16 three-storey townhouses had progressed significantly. The Inspectors observed, amongst other things, multiple workers undertaking carpentry and rendering tasks on the balcony of Townhouse 1. The workers were working within one metre of unguarded live edges, with no perimeter guard rails or scaffold fall prevention systems installed. The distance from the unguarded edge of the balcony to the ground below was 3.05 metres. No penalty was issued.
Also in 2023, WAM Homes was the principal contractor for the construction of eight three-storey townhouses in Noble Park. WAM Homes engaged an individual subcontractor as project site manager – this individual had previously managed five of WAM Homes’ other residential construction projects. The Project Site Manager arranged the work, engaged other subcontractors, ordered materials, and paid trades by accessing the WAM Homes bank account. The Project Site Manager was not a registered builder, nor did they hold any qualifications. WAM Homes also engaged a subcontractor to supply and install structural steel at the Noble Park site.
In April 2024, a member of the public alerted WorkSafe to unsafe working at height practices being undertaken at the Noble Park site. The same day, a WorkSafe inspector attended the Noble Park site and observed a worker working halfway up an A-Frame ladder positioned on an unprotected live edge of the first floor area of one of the townhouses under construction, and another worker at the base of that ladder standing with his back to the unprotected live edge. There were no fall protection devices in use and no guard railing in place.
Following the Inspector’s directive, the two workers stopped works and descended from the first floor via an unsecured A-frame ladder used to access and egress the first floor area. The Inspector met with the Project Site Manager and three of the subcontractor’s workers on site. The workers could not provide evidence of any health and coordination plan for the Noble Park site; they could not confirm that a Safe Work Method Statement had been prepared before the works commenced; and it was revealed that one of the workers observed on the first floor area did not hold a current construction induction card.
As principal contractor, WAM Homes failed to prepare a health and safety coordination plan for the construction works prior to the works commencing. They also allowed construction work to be performed by a person who did not hold a current construction induction card.
WAM Homes had 11 prior interactions with WorkSafe, and, more significantly, a subsequent prior matter for related offending, and still continued to breach their duty under the OHS Act, indicating a complete lack of care for the safety of workers on their projects. Employers must understand that their obligation under the OHS Act cannot be contracted out.
WAM Homes has had difficulties operating since being charged, as they can no longer obtain VMIA insurance and its levels of operation have been restricted by the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly, the Victorian Building Authority).
The Court ordered WAM Homes to pay a fine of $47,500.
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