WorkSafe is reminding employers of the risks associated with working from heights after a spate of serious injuries in the construction industry, including at a Broadmeadows site.
On July 28, a worker was taken to hospital with a cut to the head after falling about four metres from a ladder at the Broadmeadows site, according to WorkSafe.
The incident was one of three in three days at construction sites. On July 26 an electrician fell while loading solar panels onto a roof in Coburg, while on July 27, a plumber fell more than two metres at a housing construction site in Frankston, WorkSafe said.
Since 2018, WorkSafe has accepted 6340 claims from workers injured in falls from height, with construction workers accounting for almost one third (29 per cent) of these claims.
More than half of the claims from the construction industry (52 per cent) were falls from ladders, scaffolding, mobile platforms or mobile stairs.
Falls from height are also one of the leading causes of workplace deaths in the construction industry, with 14 fatal incidents since 2018, WorkSafe said,
WorkSafe health and safety executive director Narelle Beer stressed that every injury and death caused by falls is preventable if the right steps are taken to eliminate or reduce risks.
“This terrible sequence of incidents – three falls in three days – highlights the very real risks of working from heights,” Dr Beer said.
“It is every employer’s duty to ensure measures are in place to control these risks, such as a passive fall prevention device and a fall arrest system.”
