An Adelaide construction company has been convicted and fined after a worker plummeted 3m down an incomplete staircase.<\/p>\n
Arcon Architectural Construction was sentenced in the South Australian Employment Court last week after pleading guilty to a workplace safety breach on June 23, 2023.<\/p>\n
SafeWork SA began its prosecution after a subcontractor sustained physical injuries due to an improperly installed, unstable temporary handrail.<\/p>\n
The worker, the court heard, was leaning on the rail, which collapsed as she fell, leaving her with fractures to her sternum, ankle and vertebrae.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe presence of the timber guardrail gave the impression of being secure and being able to be relied upon,\u201d Deputy President Judge Mark Calligeros said. \u201cIt gave a false impression that it was reliable and able to be leant on safely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not surprising that a timber guardrail \u2013 screwed securely at one end but simply wedged into a concrete wall at the other end \u2013 came loose and fell when weight was applied to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am satisfied that Arcon is, and was at the relevant time, a company that took its WHS obligations seriously and that this was a case of oversight and bad judgment by an individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
The worker spent several weeks in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.<\/p>\n
In a victim impact statement to the court, she said she was now feared climbing stairs and being at heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe continues to grieve the loss of the person she was, and is trying to adapt to her limitations,\u201d Judge Calligeros said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer life changed suddenly and profoundly after the fall. She required immediate, significant medical intervention and experienced significant pain and disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Calligeros recorded a conviction against Arcon, imposed a $78,000 fine, and ordered it to pay SafeWork SA\u2019s legal costs.<\/p>\n
SafeWork SA executive director Glenn Farrell said there could be \u201cdevastating consequences\u201d for businesses that decide to cut corners on safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cFalls from height still remain one of the most significant causes of serious injury, and this incident demonstrates how quickly things can go wrong when controls are not properly implemented,\u201d Mr Farrell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a guardrail is installed, workers must be able to rely on it to take a specified load. Anything less creates a false sense of security and places people at serious risk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Adelaide construction company has been convicted and fined after a worker plummeted 3m down an incomplete staircase.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[395,5681,10811,6794,1933,10807,10815,10806,5684,10804,10808,3090,10809,10812,5703,10805,10810,10814,10813],"class_list":{"0":"post-9587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-adelaide","8":"tag-adelaide","9":"tag-charlie-dadds","10":"tag-construction-company","11":"tag-construction-site","12":"tag-executive-director","13":"tag-executive-director-glenn","14":"tag-glenn-farrell","15":"tag-judge-mark-calligeros","16":"tag-messenger-subscription-box","17":"tag-places-people","18":"tag-propeller-carnage","19":"tag-royal-adelaide-hospital","20":"tag-safework-inc","21":"tag-secret-video-shows","22":"tag-subscription-box-version","23":"tag-three-metre-fall","24":"tag-three-metre-staircase-fall","25":"tag-timber-guardrail","26":"tag-unstable-temporary-handrail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}