Prosecution Details

Being the main contractor at a workplace, failed to ensure that 3 openings in a concrete floor of a building at the workplace with dimensions of more than 200mm x 200mm but less than 2 metres x 2 metres which were not lift wells, stairwells or vehicle inspection pits had wire mesh which met the requirements of regulation 3.54(2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996 made under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and were covered with a material that was strong enough to prevent persons or things entering or falling through he openings and which was securely fixed to the floor.

The defendant was constructing a two storey house in Mindarie. A site inspection by a WorkSafe inspector on 14 October 1998 revealed three penetrations or holes greater than 200mm square in the first floor concrete slab that did not have wire mesh and had not been covered with a suitable covering. The fall height was approximately 2.7 metres.

Her Worship's, Ms Musk SM, noted that the defendant had no previous convictions, the offence was detected during a routine investigation, and although the hazard was apparent from the photograph shown in evidence the dimensions of the holes meant that the risk was less than the most serious type of offence.

The defendant pleaded guilty.