Investigation launched into tradie’s ‘insane’ act on top of work site

Office workers in high rise buildings were left “horrified” after spotting a tradie hanging off the side of scaffolding working on top of a seven-storey Western Sydney structure. His actions are being investigated as authorities clampdown on work site safety after the death of Christopher Cassaniti.

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EXCLUSIVE: It was the terrifying ten minutes which left office workers staring out their windows fearing for the life of a tradesman hanging from the scaffolding of a Sydney high-rise.

Now the actions of the worker photographed on the Parramatta building site have been targeted by the authorities amid a clampdown on building work site safety in the wake of the death of a teenage scaffolder, which has seen hundreds of scaffolding inspections and more than $50,000 in fines.

Witnesses said they were “horrified” when they saw the man — allegedly working without a harness — hanging off the side of the scaffolding at the top of the seven-storey Parramatta structure on June 11 about 2pm.

The tradie hanging onto scaffolding, allegedly without a harness, at a work site in Parramatta. Picture: Supplied

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• Man wakes from six week coma after crash with kangarooMan wakes from six week coma after crash with kangarooMan wakes from six week coma after crash with kangarooMan wakes from six week coma after crash with kangaroo“He was up there for about 10 minutes and we were all thinking he was going to kill himself,” the witness, who did not want to be named, said.

“Both of us did not see a harness or line that would protect him from falling.”

SafeWork NSW investigated the incident and a spokesman said: “On June 12, a complaint was received by SafeWork NSW relating to a potential fall-from-height-risk of a worker at a site in Hassall Street, Parramatta.

“As a result, SafeWork has issued number of prohibition and improvement notices as well as penalties to the builder. SafeWork’s Investigations are continuing.”

However lawyers for the builder, Merhis (MT Build), maintain the man did have a harness and was working correctly.

SafeWork NSW are currently investigating after a complaint was made, pictured is the site on Hassall St in Parramatta. Picture: Tim Hunter

CFMEU NSW construction secretary Darren Greenfield said the photograph appears to show an illegal work practice, saying “you are not allowed to climb scaffolding at all”.

“You can see he has not got a harness on.

“Even if he did, it would’ve been in the wrong spot because the harness needs to be above him. It’s atrocious.”

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that since April 1 — the day 18-year-old formworker Christopher Cassaniti died on a north west Sydney building site — SafeWorkNSW has conducted more than 320 scaffold inspections under Operation Scaff Safe, which has led to 17 on-the-spot fines to corporations, including 14 risk-of-falls related on the spot fines, totalling over $50,000.

Fines have ranged from $3600 for businesses and $720 for workers.

Mr Cassaniti, from Castle Hill, died when a nine-storey scaffolding tower in Macquarie Park collapsed on top of him and a workmate. His death is still under investigation and led to increased scrutiny on the building industry.

Patrizia Cassaniti, whose son Christopher died in a scaffold fall, said that type of behaviour is “insane”. Picture: Facebook

Christopher’s mother Patrizia Cassaniti was shown the picture of the Parramatta scaffolder, said: “This sort of behaviour is absolutely insane.

“Unfortunately workers are too scared to speak up about these safety breaches. There needs to be cultural change.”

NSW Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson said of the Parramatta scaffolder: “What the bloody hell was he thinking?”

“This joker might have wanted to sign his own death warrant, but what he doesn’t realise is he could’ve possibly signed one for everybody else on the scaffolding at the same time.

“We are continually pushing employers to do more to ensure the safety of their workers, then you see something like this and you think to yourself the world’s gone mad.”

Authorities have been cracking down on work site safety following the death.

Nicholas Dale from Gillis Delaney Lawyers said MT Build “takes Work Health and Safety issues very seriously”.

“After reviewing the photographs and considering relevant information, WorkSafe determined that there were no safety issues with respect to our client’s work methods or the scaffolding itself,” Mr Dale said.

“The scaffolder depicted in the photos was wearing a safety harness and a supervisor was present while he was performing the work shown in the photos.”

In a 2014 District Court decision, Merhis Constructions was fined $75,000 after subcontractor Paul Smith fell from a ladder and impaled his arm on a 70cm steel upright.

The judge said the company’s safety “failures were manifold”.

The company has a number of buildings across Sydney including Auburn, Liverpool, Blacktown and Bankstown.