Prosecutions 2005 (PDF 3269kb) - WorkSafe Victoria

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROSECUTIONS
ALKAY NOMINEES PTY LTD
Date of offence: 25 March 2003
Date of prosecution:
Magistrate:
Plea:
14 July 2005 at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court
Her Honour Magistrate Hannan
Guilty
Alkay Nominees Pty Ltd was the principal contractor engaged on a project that involved demolition
work on a single storey house in North Caulfield.
On 25 March 2003, a 66 year old employee labourer finished his lunch and went back onto the roof
and continued removing roofing sheets on his own before his two co-workers returned. By this
time, a skylight and its surrounding flashing had been removed, leaving an open penetration of
1.3m by 1.3m.
The employee fell three metres onto a concrete floor below through a section of insulation paper
next to the skylight. The employee suffered serious head injuries which resulted in his death later
on the day of the incident.
A WorkSafe inspector attended the scene and observed that:
• no scaffolding had been erected around the perimeter of the roof;
• there was no provision to prevent falling through the insulation paper in areas where the roofing
sheets had been removed;
• there was no provision to prevent persons from falling through the unguarded penetration of the
skylight opening;
• insulation paper had been left in place obscuring the location of the rafters below; and
• the system of work used for removing the old roof was unsafe, and did not comply with the Code
of Practice for Demolition, 1991. The system of work involved working backwards, leading to a
danger of falling off an edge or through any penetration or opening.
The inspector returned to the site on 7 April 2003 and was shown a work procedure from a
different contractor which had been engaged to remove the remainder of the existing roof. The
work procedure stated that all further work would be done from mobile scaffolds placed beneath
the roof, and that no persons would be required to work on the roof. The inspector rescinded the
prohibition notice.
Breach: Sections 21(1) & (2)(a) and sections 21(1) & (2)(e) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985.
Result: Convicted and fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $135,062 compensation.
PROSECUTIONS 2005
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