Two companies have been fined thousands of dollars after a young boy made his way onto a building site before falling and being struck by a heavy beam and a worker who was trapped under a concrete staircase.
Joshua Field, 12, died in May 2022 after making his way onto the roof of a construction site in Perth, Australia , when he fell and was seriously injured. The youngster managed to get to the location by making his way through an open gate with a group of children .
He was rushed to Perth Children's Hospital but his injuries weren't survivable and his family had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn his life support off.
Fatman Scoop dies at 53 after collapsing on stage in Connecticut and stretchered off in 'emergency' Horrifying moment Fatman Scoop suddenly collapses at Connecticut show and given CPR and rushed to ER PTG Construction was responsible for the site and was building five single-storey units in Maddington near housing which was used for families with young children.
The company pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to ensure the workplace was secure from unauthorized access and was handed an $18,000 fine nd ordered to pay $1500 in costs this week in the Armadale Magistrates Court, Yahoo News reports .
In a separate incident, Merym Pty Ltd trading as EMCO Building, was found guilty of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace after a subcontractor became trapped under a concrete staircase that collapsed on him. In April 2019, bricklayers employed by Swinging Bricklayers removed steel props that were supporting the staircase to construct a load-bearing wall under the recently formed concrete stairs.
Merym was slapped with a $450,000 fine for causing serious harm as well as $35,000 court costs after appearing at Perth Magistrates' Court.
Swinging Bricklayers were also fined $600,000 and ordered to pay $5000 in costs in February 2023. WorkSafe commissioner Sally North said a wide range of safety risks could be present on construction sites and the two cases illustrated the point.
She said: “In the case against Merym Pty Ltd, the company was the principal contractor and it changed the stairs from a pre-cast staircase that was assembled off-site then installed on pre-built load bearing brick walls to a staircase that was molded and poured on-site with the brick walls built underneath when the formwork was removed.
Join the Mirror's SMS news service to get the biggest breaking stories delivered straight to your phone. Click here to subscribe.
“The bricklayers had little or no experience of working with this type of staircase and were not warned to avoid removing the props because they were holding up the stairs. The job was lacking in risk assessment, communication, and instruction, and both companies involved in the incident have now been held to account.”
Ms North went on to say how the cases against the companies showed how important it is to keep a site as safe as possible due to the high number of possible hazards. She added: “In this case security gates were present, but they were frequently left open after hours when the site was left unattended because PTG did not have a system in place to ensure the gate was closed and locked when the site was unattended. WA’s workplace health and safety laws require that the person in control of a construction site must ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace is secured from unauthorized access.”
Local News
