Ultimate Building Solutions slapped with $10k fine after two workers put at risk 3.5m in the air

A Mildura home builder has been slammed after an inspector caught two carpenters working more than 3m above ground without scaffolding or fall protection equipment.

Ultimate Building Solutions owner Daniel MacLeod appeared in Mildura Magistrates' Court on December 7, pleading guilty to failing to provide a safe working environment for employees.

A Mildura home builder has been slapped with almost $15,000 in fines and costs after it put two carpenters’ lives at risk as they worked 3.5 above ground..

Ultimate Building Solutions owner Daniel MacLeod pleaded guilty in Mildura Magistrates’ Court on December 7 to one charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment for employees regarding the reduction of risk associated with falling from a height.

The court heard an inspector attended a worksite at a residential property in Mildura on July 5 last year where he discovered two carpenters working on the second storey of the home without safety equipment.

The carpenters were working in a space that was 3.5m above ground, putting them at a high risk on the Work Safe scale for construction workers.

The court heard the workers weren’t protected by any scaffolding, rails or other protective measures to stop them from falling when the inspector arrived.

A notice of improvement was lodged on the worksite and MacLeod immediately ordered timber handrails to be erected on the second storey.

On Thursday, Ultimate Building Solutions’ lawyer Charles Morgan told the court MacLeod had not realised timber hand railing was compliant with WorkSafe policy.

“He’d ordered professional railings to be delivered and they were due in mid-August,” Mr Morgan said.

Magistrate Patrick Southey fined the company $10,000 without conviction in Mildura Magistrates Court.

“Once it was pointed out to him, he went about remediating the problem straight away.”

Despite this, WorkSafe’s lawyer Elena Tozer said the company should have known better.

“This is a company that does both residential and commercial building regularly,” she said.

“It’s a concern they didn’t know what their obligations were and that the two employees were put at risk at such a significant height.”

Magistrate Patrick Southey said: “I’ve seen cases through the courts where people have died from falls at lesser heights than this.”

Mr Southey fined the company $10,000 and $3,986 in costs without conviction, taking into account the absence of any prior offending and that the situation was rectified swiftly.