Coroner’s findings into death of Ocean Grove dad Greg “Robbo” Roberts released

The circumstances leading up to the tragic workplace death of an Ocean Grove tradie have been revealed.

WorkSafe launched a safety blitz following a construction site incident that claimed the life of a Bellarine Peninsula man.

Coroner Paresa Spanos found Ocean Grove man Gregory Roberts’ “tragic death” was the result of an accident when he inadvertently touched a high voltage aerial powerline with a metal tape measure.

The subsequent electrocution and fall caused significant injuries that resulted in his death, she wrote.

Greg Roberts with family.

Mr Roberts was 37 years old when he died in hospital on November 30, 2019.

He lived in Ocean Grove with his wife and their young children, and owned and operated a building company called Redstone Building Co Pty Ltd.

At the time of the incident, on November 25, 2019, the company was undertaking work at site on The Esplanade in St Leonards.

Workmates said conditions were windy on the day.

Mr Roberts was seen falling backwards off a scaffold platform and onto timber joist and bearers about two metres below, the coroner’s report said.

He was flown to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where he later died.

“WorkSafe investigators, Energy Safe Victoria officers, and Powercor workers arrived at the worksite on the evening of 25 November 2019 and commenced their investigations into the cause of the incident,” the coroner’s report said.

The coroner’s report said investigations concluded Mr Roberts had been holding a metal tape measure at the time it made contact with a high voltage aerial line.

“This caused an electrical short circuit and arcing event, which caused him to fall from the scaffold,” she wrote.

“Both the electrocution and the consequential fall injuries contributed to Mr Roberts’ death.”

The St Leonards construction site. Picture: Alan Barber

The scaffold in place at the worksite did not comply with Energy Safe Victoria scaffold guidelines, but did comply with electricity safety installation regulations, Ms Spanos wrote.

“Mr Roberts’s (likely inadvertent) actions had not complied with the minimum distance regulation requirements between persons and aerial lines,” the report said.

The Victorian WorkCover Authority did not commence a prosecution against Redstone Building Co Pty Ltd as it was determined it was not in the public interest to do so.

Lime Scaffolding By Design Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004.

The company was sentenced, without conviction, to pay a fine of $15,000 and costs of $4882, the report said.

The coroner wrote that since 2010 there had been nine fatalities from electrical incidents in Victoria.

In September and October 2020, WorkSafe inspectors conducted a targeted blitz to raise awareness of the risk of electric shock during construction work.

WorkSafe’s next actions would include continuing to focus on the management of electrical risks during site inspections and looking to identify opportunities to educate.

Originally published as Coroner’s findings into death of Ocean Grove dad Greg “Robbo” Roberts released