A CONSTRUCTION company has been fined $15,000 for failing to adequately cover an opening after a worker fell more than three metres through a gap in a third storey floor.
According to WorkSafe WA, Arccon (WA) pleaded guilty to three charges under the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations and was fined in the Perth Magistrates Court.
The authority claims the three charges related to failing to ensure the opening was protected by wire mesh, not ensuring the opening was covered with a material strong enough to prevent people and objects falling through it and failing to mark the cover on the opening with a warning sign.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne says it is disappointing to see a lack of fall protection in workplaces.
“Falls are readily preventable and it need not be difficult or costly to ensure that suitable barriers or fall restraint systems such as wire mesh or substantial covers are organised before a tragedy can occur,” Ms Lyhne said.
“Falls are one of the most significant causes of workplace death in the construction industry and seven Western Australian workers have died in just over 12 months as a result of falls.”
The Code of Practice on the Prevention of Falls in Workplaces can be downloaded at no cost from WorkSafe’s website at www.worksafe.wa.gov.au.
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