A Victorian air conditioning company has been fined after facing court over an incident at a worksite in 2018 which saw a worker sustain serious injuries.
An apprentice employee of Air Synergy Pty Ltd was installing an evaporative cooling system on the first storey roof of a property in Tarneit in January of 2018 when he fell approximately three metres.
The worker had been positioning a dropper unit inside the roof cavity at the time, and had accidentally turned on the water supply in the space, covering the roof with water. The apprentice slipped and fell off the roof, hitting a fence on the way.
It was found in court that ‘the health and safety of employees as a result of the offender not conducting a job analysis to identify the relevant fall hazards and risks and outlining the way employees were required to carry out tasks, failing to ensure that employees used a fall arrest system such as safety harnesses, and not providing employees with the necessary instruction, information and training to safely work at heights.’
It was deemed that it was reasonably practicable for the company to eliminate or reduce risks by ensuring risk assessments before work was undertaken and utilising fall protection.
Air Synergy was sentenced to a one-year good behaviour bond, without conviction, and fined $15,000 as well as costs.