The fines serve as yet another reminder why it’s vital for companies and directors alike to have plans and procedures in place when it comes to risks on their work sites.
The worker was a bricklayer, one of the 15 to 20 people who could have been on-site at any time. His death was a result of a fall through an unguarded penetration on the second floor of the building site. Whilst the site could have up to 20 workers on site at any given time, the judge determined that there were approximately four workers who would have been exposed to the risk in the week leading up to the incident.
Despite the fact that neither the company nor its director has accepted responsibility for the failures that led to the bricklayer’s death, they have been fined $425,000 and $85,000 respectively – collectively making this the second biggest fine in NSW history and, unsurprisingly, sending the company out of business.