Wideform Queensland Pty Ltd

Incident description:

A formworker was working on a platform made up of a board and plank.

The Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigation revealed the platform should have been made from planks only and that the defendant did not enforce effective compliance to ensure workers were free from harm.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Rockhampton Industrial Magistrates Court before trial.

Industrial Magistrate Mr John McGraw ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $18,000 as well as investigation and professional costs totaling $4,000.

The defendant had previous history, but not for any related matter. No conviction recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks of falling while working on scaffold or platforms made up of planks, obligation holders should apply a risk management approach to ensure the selection of suitable control measures.

Risk management involves identifying the hazards, evaluating the consequences and likelihood of harm that may result from the hazard, deciding on and implementing control measures to prevent or minimise the level of the risk from the hazard and monitoring the effectiveness of the control measures to ensure they remain working correctly.

When deciding on and implementing control measures associated with using planks as work platforms, obligation holders should ensure the planks being used are appropriate for the work and consider securing the planks to the support to ensure they remain stable.

Visit the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland website for information on:

• health and safety information for construction
• building and construction guide (orange book) (PDF, 410kB)
• working from heights
• ladders, trestles and scaffolding
• risk management
• guide for preventing slips, trips and falls
• Formwork Code of Practice 2006 (PDF, 707 kB)
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007 
• Plant Code of Practice 2005.