A residential construction company has been convicted and fined a total of $80,000 after repeatedly failing to manage the risk of falls from height at two Doncaster building sites.

Source: SafeWork Victoria

Schintta Building Group Pty Ltd was sentenced ex parte in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 13 February after being found guilty of five charges of failing to provide a safe workplace.

The company was fined $30,000 for three charges relating to safety failures at a site in McKenzie Street and a further $50,000 for two charges after it continued to put workers at risk at an Elizabeth Street townhouse development.

The company was also ordered to pay costs of $5068.

The court heard in October 2022, WorkSafe inspectors visiting the two-storey townhouse development on McKenzie Street observed, in addition to general housekeeping issues, subcontractors working more than three metres off the ground from a scaffold that was missing planks and guardrails.

Platforms across internal stair voids were found to be constructed of framing timber and particle board that could collapse under the weight of workers, while access to the second storey was via an unsecured ladder.

Workers also had to travel between the development’s split-level slabs by climbing up and jumping down a height of about 1.5 metres, or via a makeshift ramp made of a plank of timber only about 25 centimetres wide.

In May 2023, WorkSafe inspectors visited the company’s Elizabeth Street site where four double-storey townhouses were under construction and found similar issues regarding poor housekeeping and failure to manage the risk of falls.

Workers were observed about six metres off the ground working from a scaffold that was missing guardrails, planks and a scaffold tag, while the lap boards were unsecured and there were gaps greater than 225 millimetres between the scaffold and the townhouses.

Each townhouse had open, unprotected stair voids and access to the second storeys was via an unsecured A-frame extendable ladder that did not have a 900 millimetre overhang.

The court found Schintta Building Group should have reduced the risk of falls at both sites by providing a solid construction when working at heights, providing a passive fall protection device such as perimeter guardrails, or using a fall arrest system such as harnesses; and by installing a stair void fall protection system and a secured ladder.

It was also reasonably practicable for the company to have maintained a system of work for traversing the split-level slabs at McKenzie Street that did not allow workers to walk across an unsecured plank and provided workers with a secured plank and/or level stairs that incorporated a secure handrail and appropriately-sized treads.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said it was incredibly disappointing that workers had been repeatedly put in dangerous situations across both sites.

“Falls from height do not discriminate and sadly remain one of the biggest causes of death and serious injury in the Victorian construction industry, claiming 10 lives in the past three years alone,” Mr Jenkin said.

“The ways to properly manage the risk of falls are no secret and readily available so employers have absolutely no excuses if they leave their workers at risk.”

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.

Source: SafeWork NSW

Richard Crookes Constructions Pty Ltd was the principal contractor at a construction site in Belrose NSW. ​

On 29 April 2020 form workers attended the site and removed panels covering penetrations in preparation for installing columns at the construction site. The form workers then flipped the panels to cover the penetrations.

However, the flipped panels were not adequately secured to the formwork deck, and they were not marked to indicate their purpose as a penetration cover.  ​

A crane crew entered the site and was assisting with loading materials onto the formwork decks. A worker from the crane crew stepped on one of the flipped panels, the panel gave way, and he fell through the penetration.

He fell approximately 2.9 metres sustaining serious injuries.
​
Richard Crookes Constructions Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to an offence under section 32/19(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and was fined $150,000.

Richard Crookes Constructions Pty Ltd has the right to appeal this sentence.

A construction company has been convicted and fined $270,000 after a man fell more than four metres to his death in February 2022.

Source: SafeWork Victoria

Minoan Constructions Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure that a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health.

The court heard the family-operated company was building 10 commercial units at a Cheltenham construction site.

The 69-year-old man was not employed or contracted by the company, but was a family member who helped lay flooring and install timber guard railing on the mezzanine levels of the units.

To access these areas, he and others used unsecured ladders resting against the steel frames of the mezzanine levels. They worked while standing on the ladders or near unprotected edges of the mezzanine floors.

As the man was climbing down an unsecured ladder, it began to move, causing him to fall more than four metres to the ground. He died at the scene.

The court heard that it was reasonably practicable for Minoan Constructions to have reduced the risk of falls by providing a temporary work platform, such as a mobile scaffold; installing engineered guard railing on the internal and external sides of each mezzanine level; or providing appropriate staircases to connect the ground floor to the mezzanine level.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said health and safety should be a priority for everyone in the workplace, particularly when it came to well-understood dangers such as working at heights.

“When working with family members, there can be a dangerous tendency to relax safety standards. But fall risks don’t discriminate,” Mr Jenkin said.

“To see another life lost to such a well-documented and preventable risk – one that we have extensive safety information and resources for – is both painful and frustrating.”

“WorkSafe will continue to prosecute employers who fail to protect the health and safety of everybody at their workplace.”

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.

Falls from height continue to be a leading cause of workplace fatalities, particularly in high-risk industries such as construction, mining, and transport. Despite years of regulatory efforts and training programs, fall-related incidents remain alarmingly high. The Working at Height Association (WAHA) is taking decisive action to address this persistent issue with the launch of the WAHA Falls Prevention Program – an innovative initiative designed to bridge the gap between compliance and true competency.

Developed in collaboration with Area9 Lyceum, Programmed, and John Holland Group, and supported by leading industry associations, this program introduces AI-driven adaptive learning to height safety training. Unlike traditional training models, which often focus on compliance over competency, the WAHA Falls Prevention Program leverages real-time data and personalized learning paths to ensure workers develop, retain, and apply critical safety knowledge effectively.

Key Features of the Program:

✅ AI-Powered Adaptive Learning – A personalized training experience that adjusts in real time based on individual learning needs.
✅ Competency Verification – A structured approach to assessing and reinforcing height safety knowledge, ensuring workers are genuinely capable, not just compliant.
✅ Industry-Wide Collaboration – Developed with input from major safety stakeholders to align with real-world operational needs.
✅ Measurable Impact – Early results show a significant reduction in knowledge gaps, directly improving workplace safety outcomes.

This initiative is more than just another training program – it represents a paradigm shift in how we approach fall prevention through competency verification. By integrating technology, behavioural science, and industry expertise, we are setting a new standard for safety training that saves lives and fosters a proactive safety culture.

🚧 Join Us in Leading the Change! 🚧
WAHA invites organizations, safety professionals, and industry leaders to participate in this game-changing initiative. Let’s work together to reduce fall-related incidents, improve safety outcomes, and drive meaningful change across high-risk industries.

For more details, visit https://waha.org.au/product-category/fall-prevention-program/ or reach out to us to explore how your organization can be part of this safety revolution.

#WAHA #FallPrevention #WorkplaceSafety #RopeAccess #AdaptiveLearning #SafetyLeadership