WorkSafe’s huge number of trade site inspections, warnings and prosecutions: See firms pinged

WorkSafe has revealed how many Victorian building industry bosses have been slapped with warnings or prosecuted over the past year, with some following injury horror stories.

Nearly 4000 compliance notices have been slapped on players in Victoria’s construction industry by the state’s workplace watchdog over the past year, leading to almost 90 full investigations and 55 successful prosecutions.

WorkSafe data supplied exclusively to the Herald Sun reveals inspectors conducted 14,805 workplace visits in the construction industry in the 2022-23 financial year — nearly 3000 more than in 2017-18 — issuing 3,830 compliance notices.

It also launched 88 comprehensive investigations and completed 55 successful occupational health and safety prosecutions in the construction industry in the last year, the data shows.

Recent prosecutions include

Bas Brothers Marble and Granite in Craigieburn

The manufacturer of stone benchtops made from natural and engineered stone pleaded guilty to failing to ensure power tools were not used for cutting, grinding or abrasive polishing of engineered stone at the workplace unless the use of the power tool was controlled, following an inspection. The offender was, without conviction, fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $3,906 in costs.

Berne Fleming Civil.

Berne Civi, which provides civil construction services throughout Victoria, pleaded guilty to failing to have a designated area for truck drivers to clean tailgates, after a worker’s arm was crushed between a grader and truck trailer while delivering crushed rock to Federation University’s Mount Helen campus as part of works to its entrance, improving pedestrian crossings and walkways. While Berne Civil has no employees it uses a workforce employed by another company, for which the injured person worked. It was, without conviction, sentenced to pay a fine of $20,000 and costs of $2948.00.

Above & Beyond Plastering

The business, which offers carpentry as well as plastering services, pleaded guilty after a worker’s finger was cut off on a St Kilda building site while rip cutting plywood sheets using a circular saw. The employee had not performed the work before and there was no cutting table provided to undertake the cutting work so the employee placed the plywood sheets on top of a stack of plasterboards. The plywood was not fixed to the stack of plasterboards, causing the plywood to slide around while being cut.

The employee managed to cut two plywood sheets but when cutting the third sheet the sawblade came into contact with his hand, cutting his left index finger off and causing serious lacerations to his left middle and ring fingers. The company was sentenced to pay a fine of $25,000 and costs of $5,491.

Melbourne builder faces court over unpaid leave

A Melbourne construction company that allegedly failed to pay a foreman personal leave faces court and fines of more than $40,000, as the national workplace regulator cracks down on Victorian bosses underpaying workers.

Also in the gun are Melbourne hospitality venues.

Fair Work inspectors investigated 84 hospitality businesses across Albert Park, Balaclava, Brighton, Elwood, Port Melbourne, Prahran, South Yarra, St Kilda and Windsor in the inner south; and Footscray, West Footscray, Seddon, Yarraville, Newport and Williamstown in the inner west as part of a national crackdown.

The largest FWO recovery in its hospitality crackdown was from one St Kilda business, for 170 workers. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Of the 82 Victorian investigations it completed, 86 per cent of the hospitality businesses had breached workplace laws, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) said.

It is also hauling construction company Green Vic before the courts after it allegedly refused to back pay a full-time foreman and maintenance manager for personal leave he took in winter last year.

“The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges Green Vic Pty Ltd, without reasonable excuse, failed to comply with the Compliance Notice, which required it to calculate and back pay the worker’s entitlements,” it said.

“The FWO is seeking a penalty against Green Vic Pty Ltd. The company faces a penalty of up to $41,250 for the alleged failure to comply with the Compliance Notice.

“The regulator is also seeking orders for Green Vic Pty Ltd to rectify the alleged underpayment in full, plus interest and superannuation. A directions hearing is listed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne on 14 August 2023.”

A Statement of Claim to the Federal and Family courts, obtained by the Herald Sun, reveals the company’s registered office and principal place of business was located in Doncaster Road, Balwyn North from June 14, 2016 to February 13, 2023 but then moved to Grange Road, Kew.

The court documents claim the worker took personal leave that he had accrued in July last year because of an illness and provided notice to his employer but “received no payment from Green Vic” for his time off work.

He was now owed $1,923.08 (gross), the FWO alleges.

It comes after the FWO announced this month it had clawed back $684,543 in wages for 1004 underpaid workers in Melbourne’s hospitality sector.

Businesses were selected for surprise inspections based on their risk of breaching workplace laws, with anonymous tip-offs and businesses that employed vulnerable visa holders under scrutiny.

Degraves St in Melbourne’s CBD was targeted by the Fair Work Ombudsman, along with Hardware Lane. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Of the 71 businesses found to be in breach, 69 had underpaid their workers and 24 had failed to meet pay slip or record-keeping requirements, FWO said.

The most common breaches found were underpaying penalty rates (52 businesses), followed by failing to pay minimum wages including casual loading (51 businesses) and record-keeping issues (17 businesses).

The largest recovery from one business was $83,272 for 170 employees in St Kilda.

Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah said the inspections were part of a national program that has targeted food precincts in Melbourne’s Degraves Street and Hardware Lane, along with Brisbane, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Perth and, most recently, Newcastle.

“Uncovering high levels of noncompliance in Melbourne’s fast food, restaurant and cafe sector, as the FWO has nationwide, is disappointing. Employers can’t pick and choose which wage laws they follow and those doing the wrong thing are being found out,” Ms Hannah said.

“The Fair Work Ombudsman will continue to prioritise improving compliance in this sector, which we know employs many visa holders and young workers who can be vulnerable.”