A builder and a metal fabricator have been fined a total of $65,000 for failing to control fall risks on home building sites in Boronia and Noble Park.
WAM Homes Pty Ltd and Wanjia Metal Works Pty Ltd were sentenced in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Friday 19 September after pleading guilty to seven workplace safety charges.
In July 2023, WorkSafe inspectors allegedly observed multiple workers on the balcony of a townhouse without perimeter guard rails or scaffolding, the court heard.
The unprotected balcony edge was about three metres above the ground.
Inspectors were revisiting the site at the time, having already issued WAM Homes a prohibition notice for fall risks.
In April 2024, inspectors attended a worksite in Noble Park, where WAM Homes had contracted Wanjia to supply and install structural steel.
One worker was observed standing on an A-frame ladder on the upper floor of a townhouse near an unprotected edge more than three metres from the ground, and another worker was at the base of the ladder with his back to the live edge.
No fall protection devices or guard rails were in place.
One of the workers did not have a construction induction card, which is required to access and perform work on construction sites.
The court heard WAM Homes was previously fined $15,000 without conviction over the fall risks identified in WorkSafe’s original visit to the Boronia worksite in 2022.
Additionally, WorkSafe issued the company with 11 improvement notices relating to working at height between December 2021 and July 2022.
WAM Homes, the principal contractor of both construction projects, was convicted and fined $45,000 for four charges of failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health.
Wanjia, which was subcontracted by WAM Homes for the Noble Park project, was fined $15,000 without conviction for failing to reduce fall risks by using a passive fall prevention device.
Both WAM Homes and Wanjia were each fined $2,500 without conviction for failing to ensure construction work was performed by someone with a current construction induction card.
The companies were also ordered to each pay $3,266 in costs.
WorkSafe chief health and safety officer Sam Jenkin said WorkSafe had no tolerance for employers who repeatedly ignored fall risks.
“Seeing a company who has previously faced enforcement action and been made aware of its safety failures show the same careless attitude over and over is simply inexcusable,” Mr Jenkin said.
“Fall prevention measures aren’t a box ticking exercise to satisfy WorkSafe after a visit – they are often the difference between life and death.
“Employers who don’t bother implementing them are not only breaking the law but showing a complete disregard for the safety of their workers.”
