$100K fine for repeated failure to address fall risk

A solar installation company has pleaded guilty to 10 charges under Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and OHS Regulations.

At a sentencing hearing in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 28 August, the company was found to have repeatedly failed to address the risk of falls at its worksites.

The charges related to rooftop solar installations conducted at four residential homes over a 10-month period.

In February 2024, inspectors had observed two workers on the roof of a Patterson Lakes property working at heights of between 2.6 and 5.2 metres without fall protection equipment.

In May 2024, inspectors intervened when a worker was found accessing the roof of a property in Warrnambool with an unsecured ladder and working at heights of 2.7 to 3.2 metres with no fall protection or safe work method statement (SWMS) in place.

In July 2024, an inspector responded to a report of unsafe work activity at a property in Point Cook and observed a worker on the second-storey roof at a height of 5.6 metres with no guard rail or fall restraints in place.

Finally, in September 2024, inspectors attended a Vermont property and observed a person working at a height of approximately seven metres. The worker was wearing a harness — but it was not attached to any rope or anchor point.

WorkSafe Victoria later established that the same company was responsible for the works at all of the sites. Subsequently, the company failed to provide investigators with requested documents and photographs.

“It is clear that this employer repeatedly ignored their health and safety obligations regarding working at height and put their workers’ lives at risk, despite multiple warnings,” said WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin.

The court heard it was reasonably practicable for the company to have reduced the risk of death or serious injury by using a passive fall prevention device such as guardrails, a work position system such as a travel restraint, a fall arrest system, or portable scaffolding; and a secured ladder extending at least 900 millimetres above the step-off point.

The company was fined an aggregate $60,000 for five counts of failing to ensure a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health; an aggregate $30,000 for three counts of failing to provide or maintain a safe workplace; and an aggregate $10,000 for two counts of failing to produce information and documents.

It was also ordered to pay costs totalling $12,587.

“This behaviour is completely unacceptable and this significant penalty sends a clear message that WorkSafe will not tolerate duty holders who fail to control the risk of falls — whether an incident happens or not,” Jenkin said.

For more information about fall prevention, visit: www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/fall-prevention.

Image credit: iStock.com/petovarga