So, fall accidents are quite common. One example that is made public by the OHS, is of a company that had a job on Bay Street, Port Melbourne to remove and replace a pitched slate roof with corrugated roof sheets, and to remove and replace a flat roof and its two skylights. On 9 June 2017, the company had a VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Adult Learning) student working with them and he was clearing debris from the flat roof when he stood on a skylight and fell 5 metres through it, hit a steel balustrade and then tumbled 3 metres down a flight of stairs under the skylight. He suffered many injuries due to this but has eventually recovered.
It was concluded that “No Safe Work Method Statement (‘SWMS’) had been prepared for the High-Risk Construction Work, nor was there any appropriate fall protection such as anchor points and a work positioning system. The company had also not provided the necessary information, instruction and training on working from height.”