In March 2021, a 58-year-old man was working on a crawl board over some asbestos roofing when the rafter below him snapped, causing him to fall approximately 2.5 metres onto a concrete slab below.
The worker suffered a fatal brain injury as a result of his fall and his employer was charged with failure to comply with their health and safety duty under section 32 of the Work, Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA).
Under this section, employers have a duty to as a far as reasonably practicable ensure the health and safety of their employees while they are at work. The employer entered an early guilty plea.
On 10 February 2023, a Judge of the South Australian Employment Court convicted the employer of the alleged breach and ordered them to pay a fine of $500,000, which was subsequently reduced to $300,000 due to the 40% discount for their early guilty plea. On agreement, the employer’s fine was further lowered to $150,000 due to their financial circumstances.
The Court heard a number of the employer’s safe work procedures, such as the use of a fall arrest system, were not actually implemented at the site where the worker fell, and there was no satisfactory reason why.
This case is a good reminder for employers to follow the appropriate safe work procedures at all times as you never know when an accident could happen.
If you need any guidance on whether your safe work procedures are up to scratch, contact our Business Advice Hotline who can provide you with some advice and connect you with one of our WHS safety experts.
We also have a wealth of WHS training programs that can be delivered at your site, our venues or on-line to support you meeting your obligations and you can find out more here.
