A principal contractor was fined more than $20,000 in penalty and costs after failing to ensure that carpenters on its building site did not work unsafely from heights (WorkSafe Victoria v Edgepoint Homes Pty Ltd).

The principal contractor, Edgepoint Homes Pty Ltd, was constructing townhouses in Footscray, Victoria. It engaged the services of DK Custom Homes to undertake carpentry on the construction site.

On 20 April 2022, a WorkSafe inspector attended the site and witnessed two DK Custom Homes employees working on sheet flooring on the first floor, instead of using a mobile platform. The sheet flooring also did not have any guard railing to prevent the workers from falling off the first floor to the ground below. No one was injured.

Edgepoint Homes pleaded guilty to a charge under section 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and regulation 44(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 for a failure to provide and maintain a safe work environment.

In sentencing the business, the Court noted a fine of $50,000 would have been imposed but for the plea of guilty.