Construction company fined $14,000 over lack of fall protection
Issue Date: - Tuesday, 6 May 2008
A Bunbury construction company has been fined $14,000 for failing to provide edge protection on a building site.
Briklay Pty Ltd – trading as Briklay Development Group – plead guilty to failing to provide edge protection and was fined in the Bunbury Magistrates Court on Friday.
In November 2006, WorkSafe inspectors visited a building site in Clifton Street, Bunbury where 21 units were being constructed.
The inspectors observed that no edge protection existed around stairs, stairwells, balconies and suspended slabs, and issued a prohibition notice requiring that work on the units cease immediately and scaffolding be erected on all edges more than two metres above the ground.
Four days later, a WorkSafe inspector saw two persons working on the rear balconies of the units, which still did not have any edge protection.
Scaffolding had been erected to the front balconies, but none had been erected to the rear balconies and internal stairwells. In addition, the scaffolding at the front of the units did not comply with WorkSafe regulations.
The two workers on the rear balconies were not using any other fall protection equipment and said they had not been made aware of the prohibition notice issued to the workplace.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today the case was a particularly serious case of an employer disregarding the safety of workers.
“Not only did the employer involved in this case neglect to provide any kind of fall protection for workers on the site, but then neglected to properly comply with the prohibition notice or make workers aware of the notice,” Ms Lyhne said.
“It’s extremely disappointing when employers disregard safety in this way because falls are readily preventable, and it need not be difficult or costly to ensure that suitable barriers or fall arrest systems are organised before a tragedy can occur.
“Falls are one of the most significant causes of workplace death in the construction industry, and for that reason falls from height is one of WorkSafe’s operational priority areas.
“Sadly, an average of two Western Australian die every year as a result of workplace falls, with around 1260 additional injuries, many of them serious and permanent.
“Fortunately nobody was injured or killed at this worksite, but that would have been nothing more than good luck – WorkSafe inspectors were able to take action before a tragedy could occur.
“A code of practice on falls has existed in WA for the past 18 years, with the original code being initiated in response to the number of fatalities being recorded in the construction industry at that time.
“The current code is comprehensive – providing information on the identification of common fall hazards and the use of fall arrest equipment – and I urge all employers with workplaces that may contain fall hazards to ensure copies of the code are readily available at their workplaces.”
The Code of Practice on the Prevention of Falls in Workplaces can be downloaded at no cost from WorkSafe’s website at www.worksafe.wa.gov.au.
Media contact: Caroline De Vaney 9327 8744 or 0408 927563 (media enquiries only).