Parsons Constructions (NQ) Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 10 January 2011 a 37 year old man fell through truss work and received a large cut in his scalp when he landed on the concrete floor below.

He had accessed the roof structure via a step ladder to install 10 to 15 hip over straps. As he made his way through the roof structure, he slipped and fell onto one of the trusses. He then tried to climb back through the roof structure to get to the step ladder, but fell through the roof structure to the concrete floor below, a distance of approximately 2.8m.

Parsons Constructions (NQ) Pty Ltd had employed the qualified carpenter to secure the roof structure (trusses) using hip over straps and to install ceiling battens.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• the building being constructed was a day care centre and was classified as 'commercial' in terms of the requirements to manage risks associated with working at height of at least 2m
• the defendant had treated the low set building as 'domestic construction' in terms of working at heights and had no work method statement in place for the high risk construction activity
• the worker was instructed by the defendant to install hip over straps in the absence of control measures to manage a fall from height of at least 2m
• the absence of control measures lead to the worker falling and sustaining bodily harm injuries.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Townsville Industrial Magistrates Court on 26 September 2011 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet its workplace health and safety obligations and was sentenced with no conviction recorded.

Industrial Magistrate Mr Brian Smith fined the defendant $27 000 and ordered investigation and court costs totalling $3,604.81.

The industrial magistrate acknowledged that workplace health and safety was a strong obligation placed on employers, that the injured worker was lucky not to have suffered more serious injury and that the defendant failed to ensure controls were in place to manage the risk of injury from work at heights.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Smith took into account the defendant:

• entered an early plea
• cooperated with the investigation
• provided financial assistance to the injured worker not covered by WorkCover Queensland
• had no previous convictions
• was otherwise a good corporate citizen.

Considerations for prevention:

(Commentary under this heading is not part of the Court's decision.)

When deciding on and implementing control measures associated with the risk of death or serious injury through falling from heights, obligation holders should consider available control measures to either arrest a person who has fallen, or prevent the person from falling while working at heights.

Section 259 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 clearly distinguishes the requirements for falls from heights between housing and non-housing construction work. Enforcement Note 23 provides options in relation to controlling risks from a fall through a roof structure.

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

• managing risk
• employer training options
• training staff
• Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008
• Enforcement Note 23 – Controlling the risk of falling while working on roof framing
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.