A conviction and fine imposed on an Adelaide building contractor this week is a timely reminder of the ever-present dangers of falls in the construction industry.
Trew Stone Building Contractors Pty Ltd had pleaded guilty to one breach of s19(1) of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in failing to ensure the safety of an employee.
SafeWork SA prosecuted after investigating an incident, which occurred during the renovation of a house at Largs North in May 2006.
Just an hour into the day’s work, a man employed as a supervisor was working at height with a colleague texture coating a wall, when he stepped onto some plastic sheeting unaware it was covering a gap between the balcony and the scaffolding.
He fell more than 3-and-a-half metres onto a concreted area below, fracturing his right wrist and lacerating his forehead upon impact.
The court was told the defendant had failed to maintain safe systems of work in that it:
• did not develop and implement a procedure for safe work at heights
• did not provide reasonable fall protection measures, namely edge protection and safety harnesses.
The site was nominally under the control of the owner of the house, who’d sub-contracted various work out to other tradespeople.
The company was fined $14,875.
Falls present one of the greatest risks of harm in the construction industry.
EQAS can assist in further development of OHS Management Systems to ensure the risk of workplace incidents is minimised.
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