HEIGHT SAFETY NEWS

Building site fall prompts $580,000 safety spend

September 17, 2025

Source: SafeWork SA

Two South Australian companies have agreed to make more than $580,000 in safety improvements after a worker was seriously injured in a fall from height at an Adelaide Hills building site.

SafeWork SA last month accepted Enforceable Undertakings (EU) from home builder AMS Built Pty Ltd and building products manufacturer and supplier Ruediger Constructions Pty Ltd.

The improvements agreed to in the Enforceable Undertakings will enhance safety at the companies involved, the construction industry as a whole and the broader community.

An EU is a written, legally binding commitment to implement effective work health and safety initiatives. These initiatives are designed to deliver tangible benefits for workers, industry, and the community as a whole and to resolve the issue that led to the EU.

The two EUs follow an April 2023 incident at an AMS Built double-storey residential construction site in Stirling where a Ruediger Constructions worker suffered serious injuries after falling 3.5 metres through an unguarded stair void onto the ground floor concrete slab.

The worker regained full work capacity in October 2023 and has since taken up a new role within the sector.

As the principal builder, AMS Built engaged Ruediger Constructions to provide first fix carpentry services for the residential construction project.

SafeWork SA was notified and issued an enforcement notice prohibiting work and access to the upper floor of the building.

An investigation was conducted by SafeWork SA where it was alleged that AMS Built and Ruediger Constructions committed Category 2 offences under the Work Health and Safety Act, 2012 (SA).

SafeWork SA alleged AMS Built failed to provide and maintain a safe work environment by failing to ensure the stair void was guarded prior to work being undertaken on the first floor.

It was alleged Ruediger Constructions failed to identify the hazard presented by working on the first floor of the site containing an unguarded stair void and failed to provide and maintain a safe system of work because it failed to ensure measures were in place to eliminate and/or minimise the identified risk.

The two companies applied to the Regulator to consider their application for an Enforceable Undertaking.

AMS Built and Ruediger Constructions understand the characterisation of an allegation that could be made with respect to the incident. The EU was accepted by the Regulator in August 2025.

AMS Built’s EU was accepted by SafeWork on 5 August 2025. It includes a total minimum spend of $207,233.

Initiatives include:

Developing a working from heights safety video and promoting it on social media via a paid advertising campaign.
Employing a WHS adviser/administrator to administer WHS functions and ensure compliance with relevant WHS legislation, regulations, and guidelines.
Hiring a new site co-ordinator to better manage operations and to attend to site safety requirements and co-ordination.
Purchasing a drone to conduct site safety overviews and assessments.
Ruediger Construction’s EU was also agreed to on 5 August and includes a total minimum spend on safety improvements of $373,120.

Initiatives include:

Purchasing a scissor lift, platform ladders and new harnesses to minimise the need for workers to work from A-frame ladders.
Employing a general WHS manager to administer WHS functions and ensure compliance with WHS legislation, regulations, and guidelines.
Conducting a company-wide safety training day with a focus on WHS in the residential construction industry in conjunction with AMS Built and its subcontractors to spread awareness of safe work practices.
The community aspect of the Ruediger Constructions EU includes a sponsored “Industry Safety Round” of football matches at Willaston Football Club during the Barossa Light & Gawler Association’s 2026 and 2027 seasons.

Industry Safety Round guernseys will be worn by Willaston Football Club players during the round, from Under-13s up to the A-grade.

The guernseys will include workplace safety messaging and Industry Safety Round medals/trophies will be awarded to the best players on each day.

SafeWork SA can apply to the Magistrates Court for an order if a company contravenes an EU agreement.

SafeWork SA has developed comprehensive guidance material in consultation with the SafeWork SA Advisory Committee to assist EU Applicants preparing their applications.

This material focuses on priority areas highlighted by the Regulator and can be particularly useful for applicants who struggle to identify activities that relate to the risk that led to the event in question.

Attribute to SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell:

Entering into Enforceable Undertakings with these two companies is the preferred enforcement option in this case due to the opportunity to achieve far-reaching safety benefits for companies in the residential construction industry and the broader community.

The introduction of an Industry Safety Round during the Barossa Light & Gawler Association’s 2026 and 2027 seasons is a great opportunity to promote important safety messages to a new audience.

SafeWork SA is committed to working with companies to develop Enforceable Undertakings as an alternative to prosecution where appropriate.

This is demonstrated through the development of new resources designed to help businesses prepare their EU applications.

Civil construction company fined after workplace incident

Source: SafeWork NSW

Menai Civil Contractors Pty Ltd has been fined $69,750 in the Industrial Court of NSW after pleading guilty to a category 3 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act NSW 2011.

SafeWork NSW prosecuted the civil construction company following a workplace incident on 11 November 2022 where a worker fell nearly 4 metres from a bridge abutment.

Menai Civil was engaged as the principal contractor at a construction site at Huntley, New South Wales where the worker was employed to undertake formwork stripping.

At the time of the incident, the worker was positioned at the top of the southern abutment, using an extension ladder to attach wire chains between a 26-tonne excavator and form soldiers.

The worker was not wearing a harness when carrying out this work, as the steel to anchor it was on the opposite side of the abutment.

The court found that the risk of a worker falling from height while stripping formwork was known to Menai Civil and it had a duty to ensure its subcontractors were following safe systems of work. Its failure to do so was inconsistent with a proactive or systematic approach to safety.

Menai Civil was convicted of failing to meet its duty to ensure the health and safety of its workers.

Falls from heights remain a leading cause of traumatic injuries and fatalities at NSW workplaces, with most occurring in the construction industry.

SafeWork NSW continues to prioritise the safety of workers at heights, with falls from heights listed as the first item in its 2025-26 regulatory priorities to prevent or reduce the risk of death, injury and illnesses in NSW workplaces.

Find information about how to stay safe while working at heights.

Quotes attributable to SafeWork NSW Commissioner Janet Schorer:

"Falls from heights are a primary cause of serious injuries and fatalities across workplaces in the state.

“Having the court recognise the risks that contributed to this incident reinforces that safety obligations are not optional and proactive risk management is crucial in keeping workers safe.

“SafeWork NSW remains committed to supporting industry and workplaces to keep their workers who are at height safe and encourages any business with workers exposed to heights to complete the ‘working at heights in construction safety checklist’ to keep employees safe at work.”

Sole trader sentenced to corrections order after fatal fall

Source: WorkSafe Victoria

A carpenter has been sentenced to a one year Community Corrections Order after a young worker suffered fatal head injuries when he fell three metres through an unprotected stair void on a Glen Waverley construction site.

The sole trader, 29, trading as Big Basa Constructions, was sentenced without conviction in the Melbourne County Court today after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure a workplace under his management and control was safe and without risks to health.

He was ordered to complete 100 hours of community work and pay a $10,000 fine.

The court heard that the carpenter engaged a 23-year-old worker to assist him at the site, where he had been contracted to build frames and erect roof trusses for multi-storey townhouses. 

In September 2022, the young worker was carrying lengths of steel along the first floor when he fell through the open stair void to the concrete floor three metres below.

He suffered serious head injuries and later died in hospital.

A WorkSafe investigation found there were no guardrails installed around stair voids in the units under construction and that the ladder used at the time of the incident did not extend past the first floor level.

It was reasonably practicable for the carpenter to eliminate or reduce the risk of death or serious injury due to a fall by installing perimeter guard rails around stair voids, and by using a ladder that extended at least 90 centimetres past the first floor and was securely fastened at the top and bottom.

WorkSafe’s Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said it was unacceptable that workers continued to die or suffer life-changing injuries as a result of falls from heights.

“It’s both shocking and heartbreaking to see a young worker lose his life after a workplace fall that could and should have been prevented,” Mr Jenkin said.

“No one ever thinks an incident like this will happen at their workplace and so, far too often, duty holders ignore well-known and relatively simple measures to control hazards – leading to tragedy.”

Pearl Construction Group Pty Ltd, the principal contractor on the site, has also been charged in relation to the incident and will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 8 December 2025.

To prevent falls from height employers should implement the highest possible measures from the five levels in the hierarchy of controls:

Level 1 Eliminate the risk by, where practicable, doing all or some of the work on the ground or from a solid construction.
Level 2 Use a passive fall prevention device such as scaffolds, perimeter screens, guardrails, safety mesh or elevating work platforms.
Level 3 Use a positioning system, such as a travel-restraint system, to ensure employees work within a safe area.
Level 4 Use a fall arrest system, such as a harness, catch platform or safety nets, to limit the risk of injuries in the event of a fall.
Level 5 Use a fixed or portable ladder, or implement administrative controls.

$900k in fines handed out as SafeWork cracks down on falls from heights threats

Source: SafeWork NSW

Almost $1 million in fines have been issued at the halfway point of SafeWork NSW’s 12-month blitz on falls from heights.

The ‘Working at Heights in Construction’ campaign followed a concerning rise in the number of serious injuries and deaths attributed to falls from heights, resulting in 17 people killed between 2018 and 2022.

Since May 2023, SafeWork Inspectors have visited 1,218 worksites resulting in 1,499 Improvement Notices, 727 Prohibition Notices and 352 Penalty Notices amounting to $972,000.

The blitz has seen Inspectors visit several commercial and residential sites across the state, as well as conducting high visibility checks in manufacturing and warehouse industries in addition to inspections in the transport industry leading up to a busy Christmas period.

During their field work, Inspectors gauged that 65 per cent of industry is using the highest form of safety measures as their first choice including the use of fall prevention devices, such as roof guardrails and scaffolding, rather than fall arrest systems such as harnesses.

SafeWork will continue to prioritise the safety of workers at heights in 2024 with continuing inspections, starting off with a blitz on the safe installation of rooftop solar panels this month.

Contractors and builders are obligated to protect workers by identifying height risks and taking steps to control these hazards as far as reasonably practical by implementing higher order controls.

Head of SafeWork NSW Trent Curtin said:

“As we pass the halfway point of SafeWork’s ‘Working at Heights in Construction’ compliance blitz it is important to note that falls from heights is still the number one cause of traumatic fatalities on NSW construction sites.

“While it is encouraging that 65 per cent of industry is using the highest form of safety measures, this means that 35 per cent are not and this needs to change. Otherwise, businesses run the risk of workplace accidents as well as fines and prosecution.

“During one worksite blitz a SafeWork Inspector noted a worker who was not connected to a harness system while working on a roof. When questioned as to why they were not connected, the worker reasoned that they had been roofing for 30 years without an incident.

“Attitudes like this will eventually result in a workplace accident or death. This is simply unacceptable. SafeWork Inspectors will not hesitate to stop work on site, issue fines and consider prosecution against businesses and individuals disregarding the rules.”

Know the Law

SafeWork NSW: Manage the risks of falls - or risk a fine

Safe Work Australia - Working at heights

Industrial Manslaughter:

This is a criminal offence under Section 34 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).

Maximum Penalty for a Company: $20 million
Maximum Penalty for an Individual or PCBU: 25 years imprisonment

Industrial Negligence

Gross negligence or reckless conduct is a Category 1 offence under Section 31 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).

Maximum Penalty for a Company: 90,424 penalty points (equivalent to $9,946,640 as of July 2024)
Maximum Penalty for an Individual: 9,038 penalty units (equivalent to $994,180 as of July 2024) or 10 years imprisonment
Maximum Penalty for a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking): 18,805 penalty units (equivalent to $2,068,550 as of July 2024) or 10 years imprisonment

CASE STUDIES:

Company director jailed for a year and fined $1m over workplace death

STANDARDS:

Managing the risk of falls at the workplace code of practice
AS/NZS 4488.2 – Industrial rope access systems – Selection, use and maintenance
AS/NZS 22846.1 Rope access systems Part 1: Fundamental principles for a system of work
AS/NZS 22846.2 Rope access systems Part 2: Code of practice