Big fine for workplace fall

Geelong Magistrates’ Court convicted and fined an Ocean Grove plastering company $25,000 this week over an incident which left a sub-contractor with severe spinal injuries.
Precision Plastering pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to ensure the workplace was safe, and the court ordered it to pay $5000 in costs.
The court heard that in 2015 Vand Builders engaged Precision Plastering to assist in the construction of two adjoining double-storey townhouses at Ocean Grove.
On 8 September 2015, more than 40 sheets of plaster were delivered to the site by truck, a Worksafe prosecutor told the court.
After the truck became bogged, two workers on the ground unloaded the sheets and passed them up a steel scaffold platform, the prosecutor said.
The court heard the platform was about 2.1m above the ground, one metre from the side of the townhouse and had no protective guard rails.
A sub-contractor for Precision Plastering working on the platform requested fall protection.
Vand Builders added a piece of frame to one side of the platform but left the other three sides without protection, the prosecutor said.
As one of the sheets was being moved, it snapped and struck the subcontractor pushing him through the gap between the platform and the townhouse, they said.
He landed on his head, fracturing his skull and breaking his spine.
In his victim impact statement, the man said he now spent most of his time in a wheelchair and continued to suffer a range of severe medical problems.
WorkSafe’s acting executive director of health and safety Melinda Collinson said Precision Plastering had failed in its duty of care.
“The lack of regard for worker safety by both companies has tragically changed this man’s life forever,” Ms Collinson said.
The conviction follows the prosecution of another Ocean Grove based-business, Vand Builders, over the same incident.
The Indy contacted Precision Plastering for comment.