An Adelaide Building Company has, within the last week, been convicted and fined in the SA Industrial Relations Court over an incident, which left an employee seriously injured after a fall.
Candetti Constructions Pty Ltd was convicted and fined $47,500 after being found guilty of breaching section 19(1) of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in failing to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, the safety of an employee.
The incident occurred in April 2005 during work to install cool room panels at a Gepps Cross premises. A man employed by a subcontractor to the defendant fell a distance of 7.2 metres through an opening in a suspended ceiling to the concrete floor below.
He sustained fractures to his pelvis and wrist, nerve damage, severe bruising, broken teeth and a lacerated forehead. The court heard his medical issues remain ongoing.
In its investigation, SafeWork SA found that the opening in the ceiling was completely unprotected at the time, and the defendant did not carry far enough, the safety measures it had already identified regarding fall protection.
Candetti Constructions Pty Ltd was the second defendant in this matter. In August 2007, the injured worker’s direct employer, Ace Panel Systems Pty Ltd was fined $33,000 after pleading guilty to the same breach of the Act.
EQAS can assist in further development of OHS Management Systems to ensure the risk of workplace incidents is minimised.
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