epar: Company and Director fined $320,000 after unprotected fall
Worksafe today released the sentencing details following the convictions of a building company and a Director of the company after a renderer fell while working without fall protection.
The company was found guilty of a single charge of, “failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that the workplace was safe and without risks to health. The company was fined $250,000.
Worksafe also prosecuted a Director of the company for ” failing, as a Director, to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that the workplace was safe and without risks to health.” He was convicted and fined $70,000.
The court heard the employee fell whilst rendering a wall using an unsecured plank on the exterior of a unit under construction. His injuries included a fractured skull and brain haemorrhage, broken ribs, a punctured lung, lacerated spleen, fractured arm, and fractured ankle.
The court found it was reasonably practicable for both the company AND the Director to ensure that passive fall prevention such as scaffolding was in place before the work began.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said, ” There is no excuse for failing to provide safe workplaces. This was a blatant failure to protect workers, which sadly left one worker with significant injuries that could have easily been fatal. WorkSafe won’t hesitate to prosecute employers who fail in their duty of care to maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to health.”
Solutions to consider:
- Ensure staff members are trained to do the work. (Have they digitally signed off on your epar Safe Work Procedures and SOP’s?). To find out, simply go to your epar Documents app and check the digital records.
- If they are using equipment, check the competency matrix in your epar Equipment app to ensure they are marked GREEN.
- You can also use the epar phone app to quickly scan the QR code on the equipment they are using to confirm their status to use that equipment is GREEN.
- Check your Digital Risk Register. Have you entered site risks and the appropriate controls? If not, call your epar support team and we can help with this.
- Regularly ask staff to complete an epar Take 3 assessment before they commence a task. This can be done using the epar Pocketbook or the Digital inspection app
- Use the Inspections app to conduct regular SAOs (Safe Act Observations) of staff undertaking work tasks.
If you have any questions please contact your epar support team any time. For more information, visit www.epar.com.au OR contact at info@epar.com.au.
