Crowley Excavation: Construction company fined over worksite death

A Kilmore construction company has been fined over the 2018 death of a worker, a devoted dad of two, at a site in Wallan.

Andrew Wahlert died on a building site at Wallan in 2018. Pic Supplied.

A Kilmore construction company has been fined over the 2018 death of a worker at a site north of Melbourne.

Crowley Excavation was fined $360,000 by the Melbourne County Court last week after pleading guilty to failing to provide a safe workplace.

Andrew Wahlert, 32, was killed when he fell into a 6m trench while working on a site at Wallan in August 2018.

There were at least two other workers within 10 metres of him but no-one saw him fall.

Mr Wahlert was backfilling trenches that had been dug for sewerage pipes on the Springridge housing estate, 60km north of Melbourne.

He was required to stand near the unprotected edge of the trench to hook and unhook lifting chains to a trench shield and fell while moving the shield.

Mr Wahlert was remembered as a devoted dad of two young children and a gentleman.

A WorkSafe investigation found the company could have taken reasonable steps to reduce the risk of a fall, such as using walkway and ladder to approach the trench shield, using longer chains or separate chains for each shield and placing safety reminders near the edge of the trench.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Andrew Keen said the death was a tragedy that should have been avoided.

“And a heartbreaking reminder of the consequences of not prioritising safety,” he said.

Mr Keen said falls were a leading cause of death and serious injury in Victorian workplaces.

“The risks of falling from a height while working around trenches, and the controls that duty holders can put in place to reduce these risks, are well-known in the industry. WorkSafe won‘t hesitate to prosecute duty holders who fail to do everything they reasonably can to keep workplaces safe,” Mr Keen said.

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