Fall fatalities

Union News

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Falls fatalities - are you working at height? Is it safe?

There were two falls fatalities in Victoria last weekend. A plasterer aged in his 60s died at the Alfred Hospital on Saturday after a fall at a Northcote house on Friday. The second fatality occurred on Sunday, when a man who was also in his 60s died after falling from a ladder at Quambatook in the state’s north.

Then, on Tuesday this week, two men were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, one with spinal injuries, after falling 3.8 metres at a Preston carpet manufacturing business yesterday. The two men had been dismantling a piece of equipment when a piece shifted causing them to fall on to a concrete floor.

WorkSafe’s acting Executive Director, Eric Windholz, said ensuring safe work practices was a matter of life and death. ‘With two fatalities in the past four days and another serious incident – now is the time to make sure anyone working at height has appropriate protection,’ he said. ‘Without it, the chance of death or permanent injury is high. There have been fatalities from falling off stepladders in shops, but the risks increase greatly as the height does.’

Victoria has had regulations for the prevention of falls since 2003. Under the regulations, the employer has a duty to identify and assess the risk of employees falling. The employer must eliminate the risk, or if this is not practicable, reduce the risk as far as practicable. This must be done according to a very clear hierarchy of risk control.

Read more on the Prevention of Falls