Prosecution Details

Being a self-employed person failed, so far as practicable, to ensure that the safety or health of a person not his employee was not adversely affected by a hazard arising from work being undertaken by him; contrary to ss21(2)(b)(i) and 21A(3) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984.

The accused is a self employed carpenter. At the time of the alleged offence the accused was undertaking work at Mt Hawthorn (the Site) where a two storey dwelling was being constructed. The accused had been contracted to install a balustrade on the stairs and first floor landing area inside the dwelling. The accused had been performing work of this type since 1997.

On Wednesday 9 February 2005 the accused commenced installation of the balustrade at the dwelling. In particular, the accused located and partially fixed into position several panels of balustrade in the first floor landing area of the dwelling. However, the accused did not at this time install a handrail, nor put in place all the fasteners that would ultimately be used to fix the balustrade in place. The accused also encountered difficulty when attempting to install balustrade on the stairs of the dwelling as the balustrade did not appear to be the correct size.

The accused advised the production manager of the company he was contracted to of this difficulty. The production manager attended the site that same day and both he and the accused examined the problem that had arisen with the stairway balustrade. In the end it was determined that the stairway balustrade would be returned to the company's manufacturing facility to be resized.

The production manager then left the site, informing the accused to pack up and leave also. The production manager and the accused did not discuss what ought to be done about the partially installed balustrade in the landing area. It was known to the accused that the company's procedures required that the partially completed work be left in a safe state. The accused subsequently packed up his tools, equipment and materials before leaving the site. The accused did not undertake any further work on the partially installed balustrade. The accused did not inform the builder who was in control of most of the works on site (but not of procurement and installation of the balustrade) of the state of the balustrading work he had been undertaking. The accused did not install a temporary handrail to the landing area, or the stairway. The accused did not otherwise further secure the partially installed balustrade. The accused did not leave any sign or warning, such as the use of hazard tape, that would indicate to persons in the vicinity of the balustrade that the balustrade in the landing area was only partially installed.

On Thursday 10 February 2005 a self employed painter was on the site painting the interior of the dwelling in the upstairs landing area. In the course of applying paint around the balustrade the painter unintentionally got some paint on the balustrade. He leant over the balustrade, intending to reach down and wipe off the excess paint - applying his body weight to the balustrade while doing so. As he did so, the balustrade gave way at the points where it had been partially affixed and he fell approximately 2.9m to the concrete floor at ground level below. He sustained a fracture to his skull and bruising to his body as a result of the fall.

The accused pleaded guilty.

Convicted