Magistrate gets tough on dangerous work

A Geelong magistrate has told a business operator he could have gone to jail if an employee had fallen from the roof on which he was working.

WorkSafe prosecuted Paul Anthony Friend (trading as Latrobe Roofing and Spouting Services) after incidents at Yarraville and Ocean Grove in May and November 2001.

The court was told that in both cases two employees were laying metal roofing without fall protection being in place. At Yarraville, the roof had a pitch of about 45°. Power cords and tools had also not been tagged or inspected in accordance with industry codes of practice.

At Ocean Grove, the outer insulation on the cables of an electric lead and drill had pulled away from the plugs, exposing the inner casing. A ladder which was unsecured, without rubber feet, and did not extend through access landing, was also deemed to be unsafe.

Geelong magistrate Jon Klestadt said it was only luck that an employee, one of whom was a nephew, had not fallen and been badly hurt.

Friend pleaded not guilty to six occupational health and safety charges and guilty to one other. One charge was dismissed.

In imposing a conviction, fines totalling $22,500 and costs of $8970 the magistrate said Friend showed no remorse and wilfully turned a blind eye to unsafe work practices.

The court told Friend faced similar charges in 2001 when he was fined $7500 and ordered to pay $1200 in costs.

WorkSafe Executive Director, John Merritt said working at height was a major cause of serious injury and death in Victoria with a fatality recorded only in the past fortnight. "There is a wide choice of systems available for working safely at height. There is no excuse for not using them. "Even falls from a low height such as 2 m can kill. "Since the start of 2000, of 108 deaths investigated by WorkSafe 15 involved falls from height."