A solar installation company has been convicted and fined a total of $100,000 after repeatedly failing to address the risks of falls at four residential homes in Victoria.
Aus Renewable Development Group Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Friday 28 August after pleading guilty to 10 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and OHS Regulations.
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.
The company was also ordered to pay costs totalling $12,587.
The court heard the charges related to rooftop solar installations conducted over a 10-month period at sites in Patterson Lakes, Point Cook, Warrnambool and Vermont.
In February 2024, two workers were observed on the roof of a Patterson Lakes property without fall protection equipment working at heights of between 2.6 and 5.2 metres.
In May 2024, inspectors again intervened when a worker was found accessing the roof of a property in Warrnambool with an unsecured ladder and working at heights of between 2.7 and 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.
In September 2024, inspectors attended a property in Vermont and observed a worker working at a height of approximately seven metres wearing a harness that was not attached to any rope or anchor point.
WorkSafe later established that Aus Renewable Development Group was responsible for the works at each of the sites and the company subsequently failed to produce requested documents and photographs to investigators.
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.
WorkSafe Chief health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said strong enforcement action was required to deter employers from ignoring their obligations to keep workers safe.
“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,” Mr Jenkin said.
“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.”
To prevent falls from height employers should implement the highest possible measures from the five levels in the hierarchy of controls:
- Level 1 Eliminate the risk by, where practicable, doing all or some of the work on the ground or from a solid construction.
- Level 2 Use a passive fall prevention device such as scaffolds, perimeter screens, guardrails, safety mesh or elevating work platforms.
- Level 3 Use a positioning system, such as a travel-restraint system, to ensure employees work within a safe area.
- Level 4 Use a fall arrest system, such as a harness, catch platform or safety nets, to limit the risk of injuries in the event of a fall.
- Level 5 Use a fixed or portable ladder, or implement administrative controls.
When undertaking High Risk Construction Work (HRCW), duty holders must:
- Ensure HRCW is not performed unless a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) is prepared.
- Ensure that once a SWMS has been developed, all HRCW work is undertaken in accordance with that SWMS.
- Stop work immediately, or as soon as it is safe to do so, once they become aware a SWMS is not being followed.
- Review the SWMS whenever there is a change in the work being undertaken or if there is an indication that control measures are not adequate.
- A copy of the SWMS must be retained for the duration of any HRCW.
Source: WorkSafe Vic
