A roofing company has been convicted and fined after repeatedly putting workers at risk of falls on four residential construction sites in Melbourne, including in Fraser Rise and Mickleham.
Proform Roofing (Vic) was found guilty of nine offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations on Thursday 12 February and fined $700,000.
The company was sentenced ex parte at Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court to an aggregate fine of $350,000 for failing to use passive fall prevention devices and fall protection, and for failing to have a safe work method statement (SWMS) across three sites in Fraser Rise and Clyde North.
The court also imposed an additional aggregate fine of $350,000 for offences at a Mickleham construction site for failing to have a safe system for working at height and failing to perform high risk construction work in line with a SWMS.
The company was also ordered to pay costs totalling $12,965 for the two matters.
The court heard that Proform was engaged to install steel roofing at three sites in Fraser Rise and Clyde North.
In April 2023, a WorkSafe inspector visited the Fraser Rise construction site, following a complaint about lack of fall protection.
The inspector saw a worker on the roof without perimeter guard railing or safety harnesses in place.
The worker said no SWMS had been prepared, despite working at heights of 2.9 and 3.2 metres.
In July 2024, a WorkSafe inspector responding to a complaint about a townhouse construction site in Mickleham saw two workers on the lower roof installing roof battens without fall protection in place.
Both workers were at risk of falling three metres and no SWMS was available.
The court heard it was reasonably practicable for the company to have implemented fall protection measures, such has handrails, perimeter guardrails, harnesses or scaffolding, as well having a SWMS where appropriate and performing high-risk construction work in accordance with it.
WorkSafe chief health and safety officer Sam Jenkin said the hefty fines sent a clear message to employers who repeatedly ignored their health and safety obligations.
