In a recent Western Australian prosecution, the operations manager of a roofing company was prosecuted and fined $7,500.00 after a worker fell about 5 metres, through a skylight.
The worker suffered serious injuries, and was lucky not to be killed.
The operations manager, Charles Farmer, was prosecuted under section 20(1)(b) of the Occupational safety and Health Act, as an employee who “failed to take reasonable care to avoid adversely affecting the safety or health of any other person through any act or omission at work, and by that failure caused serious harm to a person“.
According to the prosecution summary, although Mr Farmer had identified the skylights on the existing portal frame roof, he did not ensure that a safe working procedure was in place that required the workers to use a fall injury prevention system.
You can access the prosecution summary HERE.
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My Safety Thoughts 