Employers across New South Wales are being put on notice after a SafeWork blitz on building sites has revealed a long list of safety issues.
It coincides with solar energy installer PV Solar being hit with a $300,000 fine in the District Court for failing to comply with its duties after a 19-year-old apprentice fell 6.5 metres through a skylight and suffered fatal head injuries.
More than 20 per cent of construction sites checked by SafeWork has working at height risks while two thirds required immediate intervention for unsafe practices.
SafeWork executive director, Tony Williams, said falls from heights are the number one killer on NSW construction sites and most people who are seriously injured or killed fall from a height of four metres or less.
May an apprentice carpenter fell three metres while installing roof trusses, while another man fell from a second-story roof in Woodcroft. Both were airlifted to hospital with suspected spinal injuries.
“To have 33 notices and three fines worth $3,600 each issued in relation to fall safety across northern Sydney is alarming. But when we look at Sutherland (south of Sydney) there were 65 notices issued relating to heights and falls risks it shows that even the most simple safety practices – like protecting people from an edge – are being ignored.
“Other notices and fines were issued for electrical hazards, incomplete or altered scaffolding, inadequate site security as well as safety management.”
SafeWork’s site visits have coincided with PV Solar pleading guilty in its prosecution to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
On August 23 2018, a 19-year-old first year apprentice fell through a polycarbonate skylight while working on a roof after the harness based fall arrest system he was wearing was set incorrectly to arrest the fall.
He suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, dying from the injury two weeks later.
On-the-spot fines of $3,600 for corporations and $720 for individuals can be issued to businesses who place workers lives at risk through inadequate protection from falls from heights.