Watertank Solutions worker becomes paraplegic after falling into concrete water tank

A Ballarat water tank installation company has been convicted and fined after two workers fell at a job site, leaving one a paraplegic who now feels like “a prisoner” in his home and body.

A worker for a Ballarat company fell headfirst into an in-ground concrete water tank (not pictured) at a job site in Yendon in April 2022. Picture: Water Tank Solutions / Facebook

An employee of a Ballarat water tank installer became a paraplegic after he fell headfirst into a concrete tank he was cleaning.

Wendouree business Watertank Solutions Pty Ltd faced Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Friday after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to provide a safe working environment.

The court heard that three male employees were at a job site in Yendon in April 2022 cleaning an in-ground concrete water tank and replacing its roof.

The tank was 2.15m deep and the apex of the roof was 3.15m from the base.

It also had a concrete lip which rose 45cm above the ground.

Two of the Watertank Solutions employees were working on the tank when they fell, one landing on his shoulder nearby and the other, a 43-year-old, tumbling headfirst from ground level into the tank.

He had to be sustained by the others, who used a ladder to climb inside the tank, so that his head stayed out of water before he was rescued.

He is now a paraplegic and because of his need for a wheelchair feels like a “prisoner in his own body” and in his home, the court heard.

He requires three carers and suffers depression and anxiety.

Watertank Solutions was convicted and fined $45,000, plus costs of $3960.