NSW: company fined $150,000 after worker injured in roofing incident
The following article is a news item provided for the benefit of the Workplace Health and Safety profession. Its content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Institute of Health & Safety.
Date:
Wednesday, 28 September, 2022 - 12:00
Category:
Incidents & prosecutions
Location:
New South Wales
A Sydney-based business has been convicted and fined $150,000 after a worker was seriously injured while helping to replace roofing at a company job site in 2019.
Advanced Roofing Sydney was sentenced in the NSW District Court for failing to ensure as far as reasonably practicable the health and safety of workers.
“This is a case where the court heard a worker fell while helping to replace roof sheeting over the indoor gymnasium at St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, Sydney,” said the head of SafeWork NSW Natasha Mann.
“On the day the incident occurred there were numerous voids in the roof where roof sheeting had been removed and while they were covered in black plastic there were no secure plywood covers.”
The court heard the 22-year-old worker was helping to carry some roof sheeting when he fell through a void covered in black plastic and fell more than eight meters onto a basketball court below, suffering serious injuries.
Safety measures were adopted at the job site after the incident; the use of individual safety harnesses was enforced for workers on a high roof or within two metres of an exposed area, and secure plywood covers were installed over the numerous voids in the roof.
Advanced Roofing Sydney has a right to appeal the sentence which was handed down on 14 September 2022.