Townhouse fall could have been prevented

18 November 2005

A building industry ‘myth’ that fall protection is only required where there’s a risk of fall above 3 metres resulted in a Christchurch construction company ending up in court this week.

Lanyon and Le Compte Company Ltd, fined after one of its building sub-contractors was seriously injured in a fall, made the mistake of thinking that fall protection was not required when the risk of falling was less than 3m.

The builder fell more than 2.5m onto concrete while he was working on a two-storey townhouse under construction in St Albans in September 2004. The accident happened after he stepped off a ladder into a hole in the second floor of the house. The hole had been left for stairs to eventually be installed.

He received serious head injuries, requiring three cranial operations, and also sustained a broken rib.

Lanyon and Le Compte Company Ltd was this week sentenced for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure his safety at work. The company was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $20,000 in reparations.

Canterbury health and safety manager for the Department of Labour, Margaret Radford, said the company made the mistake of thinking that fall protection was not required when the risk of falling was less than 3m.

“It’s a very common misconception in the building industry that fall protection is only required where there’s a risk of fall above 3m,” Ms Radford said.

“While there is a specific regulation relating to falls prevention, which requires that all practicable steps be taken to prevent a fall in excess of 3m, that doesn’t mean that the risk of falls from shorter distances should not be addressed.”

The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 requires that where there is any risk of serious harm, all practicable steps must be taken to prevent that harm from occurring.

“No one could argue that in this case, the likelihood of harm from falling almost 2.7m to a concrete floor was high.”

Ms Radford said the company had no protection in place to stop workers falling through the hole. Acceptable protection could have consisted of a secure cover over the stairwell void, guardrails or other means to prevent a fall.

Since January 2003, the Department of Labour has investigated more than 350 falls on building sites.