Construction company fined $270,000 after fatal fall

13 March, 2025. 3 minute read.

In February 2025 a family-operated Victorian construction company was convicted and fined $270,000 after a man fell more than four metres to his death at a construction site in 2022.

The company pleaded guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure that a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health. The equivalent charge under the Model WHS laws is the more overarching charge of failing to ensure that a workplace is free from hazards and risks as per Section 19 of the WHS Act.

Under WHS laws, every commercial entity that employs people has this obligation as its primary duty. This specific duty is not provided by the Victorian OHS legislation but is covered under the scope of the employer’s main duties to employees as per Occupational Health & Safety Act 2004 (Vic) section 21.

The person who died was an elderly family member of the director who was not actually employed but was helping to lay flooring and install guard railing on the mezzanine levels of a series of units under construction. As he was climbing down the ladder, which had not been adequately secured, it became unstable, causing him to lose balance and fall, resulting in a fatal injury

Failures in this incident are clear and systemic. The business failed in multiple key areas of risk management, leading to a preventable fatal fall from height.

• No documented risk assessment for working at heights. A proper risk assessment should have identified fall risks associated with accessing mezzanine levels and using an unsecured ladder.
  

• The hierarchy of control was not applied, this means no effort was made to eliminate, substitute, or minimise the hazard.
  

• Failure to recognise an unstable ladder as a hazard. Ladders are not suitable for primary access to mezzanine levels in construction. A mobile scaffold or staircase should have been used instead. Furthermore, the absence of engineered guardrails on the mezzanine was a critical failure. Temporary or permanent guardrails should have been in place before any work started.
  

• Lack of assessment for an untrained worker on-site. The individual who died was a family member of the director, not an employee. The business failed to assess whether he had the necessary training or competency to work at height.
  

• The business did not mandate safety measures for working at heights, despite it being the second leading cause of fatalities in Australia and almost 50% of fatalities in the construction industry.
  

• No Health and Safety Representative (HSR) or Worker Consultation. If an HSR was in place, they could have intervened by:

◦ Conducting regular site inspections and identifying such hazards

◦ Raising concerns about lack of guardrails, scaffolding or unsafe access.

◦ Suggested temporary access solutions (scaffolding, stairs)

◦ Raising concerns about unauthorised personnel performing high-risk tasks (although a family member) and ensured only trained workers were allowed to work at heights.

Could this fatal incident have been prevented

Yes, through proactive risk identification, worker consultation, and intervention. Even the court emphasised the failure of risk management measures in place. Reasonable risk management measures would ordinarily include installing a temporary work platform, such as a mobile scaffold; installing engineered guard railing on the internal and external sides of each level; or providing appropriate staircases to connect the ground floor to the mezzanine level.

We note that in this case where the man fell to his death that there appear to be no charges against the director (officer) of the company and that the charge was given to the company itself. Whether the director of the company or the company alone was the recipient of the fine, the director in both cases will still be liable for a monetary penalty.

For more information on WHS training or WHS compliance services, or if you would like help to make your WHS management system even more robust, please feel free to contact us by email at train@courtenell.com.au or phone us on 02 9552 2066

13 March 2025