WorkSafe: Urgent plea after three construction workers injured

Three tradies have been injured in workplace incidents in three days, leading the regulator to issue a safety plea.

Victoria’s workplace safety authority has issued an urgent plea for companies to take safety seriously after three tradies were injured in three days.

The horror run of worksite mishaps began on July 26 when an apprentice electrician fell from a Coburg home’s roof while loading solar panels.

The apprentice suffered serious injuries from the fall, including a broken ankle, wrist and eye socket.

The following day a plumber fell more than 2m at a housing construction site in Frankston, suffering serious head and back injuries.

Then, on July 28, a construction worker fell four meters from a ladder at a Broadmeadows construction site, suffering a laceration to their head.

WorkSafe Victoria’s health and safety executive director Narelle Beer said the incidents should serve as a reminder to employers of the risk of working from heights.

“This terrible sequence of incidents – three falls in three days – highlights the very real risks,” Dr Beer said.

“It is every employer’s duty to ensure measures are in place to control these risks, such as a passive fall prevention device and a fall arrest system.”

The workplace safety authority has prosecuted 12 construction companies so far this year, with fines totalling $489,000 levied for failing to protect workers from falls.

Falls from height are also one of the leading causes of workplace deaths in the construction industry, with 14 fatal incidents since 2018.

In February, a 69-year-old worker died after falling five meters from a Cheltenham construction site.

Since 2018, WorkSafe has received more than 1800 claims from construction workers injured from falls – more than two every day.

More than half of the claims were falls from ladders, scaffolding, mobile platforms or mobile stairs.