Building Contractor Fined Over Fall Injury

Posted: Jun 15, 2009

[A Contractor - name withheld] 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 2005 during work to install cool room panels at a Gepps Cross premises. A man employed by a subcontractor to the defendant fell 7 m 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. Industrial Magistrate Richard Hardy said the defendant did not carry far enough the safety measures it had already identified regarding fall protection.

[A Contractor - name withheld] was the second defendant in this matter. In 2007, the injured worker’s direct employer [A Contractor - name withheld] was fined $33,000 after pleading guilty to the same breach of the Act.

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