Company fined $40,000 after worker falls 10m through asbestos filled roof at job site in Victoria

A company has been fined tens of thousands of dollars after a worker was injured after falling 10m through an asbestos filled roof at a job site in Victoria’s southwest.

The man was contracted by Sams Solar, a solar panel company, to remove asbestos sheeting and install a new roof and solar system at a three-storey Portland self-storage warehouse in April 2023.

The man was provided with a harness and lifted on to the roof by a boom lift before attaching to an anchor point using ropes, and was required to move around the roof via unsecured lengths of timber, according to WorkSafe Victoria.

The man’s harness ropes became tangled and as he unclipped to fix it, the brittle roof surface below the timber he was walking on cracked, and he fell through it.

He was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, including a fractured wrist and severe bruising to his body.

“Falls from height remain one of the biggest killers on Victorian worksites, and it is frustrating to see employers continue to put workers in situations where they are at serious risk of harm,” WorkSafe executive director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said.

“As highlighted in this case, safety harnesses come with their own hazards and should only be considered in instances where greater risk control measures cannot be used.”

Jenkins said the man had been left with painful injuries in an incident that could have easily ended in tragedy.

WorkSafe said it was “reasonably practicable” for Sams Solar to ensure the asbestos removal work was performed from underneath the roof using a scissor lift.

And if the work was to be done from the rooftop, the company should have ensured there was safety mesh or a catch platform installed under the asbestos sheeting and that temporary access walkways were at least 450mm wide and secured to the top of the roof.

Sams Solar was sentenced in the Portland Magistrates’ Court on September 10 after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace.

The company was fined $40,000, and ordered to pay $6026 in court costs.