A NSW construction company has been fined after an apprentice was injured in a fall at a construction site.
Jake McManus, 19, slipped and fell about 4m to the ground while working on a roof at a Deniliquin property, in the Riverina region of NSW, in December 2020.
The apprentice carpenter, who was not being directly supervised at the time, was knocked unconscious and was flown to Royal Melbourne Hospital for treatment.
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His ribs and collarbone were broken and he sustained other injuries to his torso, including bruising on his lungs.
SafeWork investigated and charged Denbrok Constructions Pty Limited with failing to comply with its duty to ensure workers’ health and safety is not put at risk, which exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury.
Denbrok Constructions Pty Limited pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court.
The court heard the company’s director had told McManus to secure roofing sheets on the existing property above the garage and connecting to the extension that was being constructed at the director’s own home.
About 7am, the apprentice used an unsecured ladder to get onto the roof at the front of the house.
He was standing on a corrugated iron sheet near the ridge of the roof, marking screw lines, when he lost his balance.
He slipped and slid down the roof, falling from the unprotected edge onto the ground below.
None of the six other workers at the site at the time witnessed the fall.
However, one worker heard McManus fall and walked around the roof to find the apprentice on the ground.
“The risk in these proceedings was obvious, glaringly so,” District Court Judge Wendy Strathdee said on Wednesday.
“The risk of falls from height in workplaces is notorious, and particularly so in the context of construction projects, and especially roofing work.
“It is difficult to understand how (persons conducting a business or undertaking) can overlook such foreseeable risks, despite the court trying to get the message out into the community.
“I note that this was in fact (the director’s) home that was being worked upon when the incident occurred, and this perhaps led to some complacency, however safety issues must be at the forefront of the mind of all persons involved in working at height, given the inherently dangerous nature of such work.”
Denbrok Constructions was fined $150,000.
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