Special Investigators - Season 2 Episode 3 - 5m Construction fall

On a construction site in Christchurch a worker’s first day on the job goes horribly wrong when he falls five and a half metres from a roof.

Department of Labour health and safety inspector Bruce McLaren knows all too well that working at height can be dangerous, especially if the correct safety procedures are not in place. The victim landed on his feet, severely injuring both legs. Bruce thinks it’s a miracle he has survived.

On site it is Bruce’s job to piece together the events that led to the incident. In this case Bruce is lucky to have someone who actually witnessed the event.

The eyewitness tells Bruce how he had noticed two men on the roof and then watched in horror as one man just stepped off into five metres of empty air.

It’s an incident that is so easily prevented by guarding. Bruce needs to establish why there was no fall protection in such an obviously hazardous situation. To his surprise, Bruce is told that no-one on site was expecting the men to be working on the roof that day.

By speaking to the man who was on the roof with the victim, Bruce ascertains that the two men had been sent to work elsewhere on site. But the pair decided to take advantage of a sudden change in weather and finish off some work on the roof. It seems the two men had taken matters into their own hands without the knowledge of their boss.

Bruce concludes that no provision had been made for the men’s safety on the roof because they were not expected to be working up there. Bruce acknowledges that the worker’s have a good boss who is committed to looking after them, but the workers have got to play their part too.

Bruce emphasises to the workers involved that working at heights is a dangerous activity. It is still the biggest cause of serious harm incidents and deaths in the construction industry. Incidents like this one are so easy to prevent.