20th September 2013 A roofing company and its director have been fined a total of $100,000 after a worker suffered head and neck injuries when he fell through a roof.
The Mallon Company, trading as Frontline Roofing, and director Michael Moore pleaded guilty in the Perth Magistrate’s Court today to failing to provide a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a contractor.
The company was engaged in August 2010 to replace the roofing of a commercial premises after a hailstorm.
Mallon engaged Debri to perform the re-roofing and Terry’s Crane Hire to provide a crane.
Debri removed asbestos sheeting from the rear of the roof and moved the wrapped sheets to the front.
A crane operator employed by Terry’s and a 19-year-old dogger, who was a contractor engaged by Terry’s, began removing the asbestos sheets and landing the packs of new metal sheets.
The 19-year-old accessed the roof to guide the crane operator and was warned by the Debri employees to be aware of the hazardous rusty tin sheets and damaged polycarbonate.
He walked across the damaged sheets and stepped onto the end of one of them while trying to remove the slings from a pack of metal sheets.
The sheet collapsed and he fell to the cement floor, about 3.3m below, suffering serious head and neck injuries.
Safety mesh was installed below the roof, but not in the frontage area, although there were plans to install it once the asbestos had been removed.
Mallon was fined $70,000 and Moore was fined $30,000. They were also ordered to pay $2200 in costs.
Terry’s and its director were fined $71,000 in June, and Debri is also due in court over the matter at a later date.