Employers across NSW are being put on notice after recent SafeWork visits to construction sites in northern Sydney and the Sutherland shire revealed more than 20% of sites had working at heights risks while two-thirds required intervention on unsafe practices.

The blitz on building sites came as solar energy installer PV Solar Pro was fined $300,000 in the District Court for failing to comply with its duties after a 19-year-old apprentice fell 6.5m through a skylight and suffered fatal head injuries.

SafeWork executive director Tony Williams, said that as part of last month’s blitz 23 SafeWork inspectors had visited 98 construction sites from Neutral Bay to Ryde and issued 115 notices and five fines relating to unsafe workplaces at 69 sites.

“If we go to the other side of the city our inspectors went to 67 sites, issued 158 notices and 11 fines relating to unsafe work practices and putting workers at risks, especially in relation to working at heights,” he says.

“Falls from heights are the number one killer on NSW construction sites and most people who are seriously injured or killed fall from a height of four metres or less.

He adds that in May, an apprentice fell 3m while installing roof trusses in Moama and just this month, another man fell from a second-story roof in Woodcroft.

“To have 33 notices and three fines worth $3,600 each issued in relation to fall safety across northern Sydney is alarming. But when we look at Sutherland there were 65 notices issued relating to heights and falls risks it shows that even the most simple safety practices – like protecting people from an edge – are being ignored,” Tony adds.

SafeWork’s site visits have coincided with PV Solar pleading guilty in its prosecution to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

Ongoing construction blitzes by SafeWork have been occurring right across both metropolitan and regional NSW in 2021, including in the Illawarra, the North Coast and Riverina as well as across Sydney.

On-the-spot fines of $3,600 for corporations and $720 for individuals can be issued to businesses who place workers lives at risk through inadequate protection from falls from heights.