A worker who was paralysed after falling headfirst into a concrete water tank needed a colleague to hold his head above water while he was rescued, a court has been told.
Details of the horrific incident were told in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday after water tank installation company Watertank Solutions Victoria pleaded guilty to charges of failing to provide and maintain a safe system of work.
The company was fined $45,000 and ordered to pay additional costs.
Workers had been hired to repair, drain and clean an underground tank at a property in Yendon, west of Melbourne, in April 2022 at the time of the fall.
Part of the work included removing and replacing the tank’s metal roof.
The tank itself was about 2.1 m deep, with the outer wall 45 cm from the ground and its apex about 3.1 m from the base of the tank.
Workers used metal planks balanced on the tank’s outer wall and the apex of the roof to access and remove the roof panels.
There was no fall protection.
A worker was paralyzed after falling headfirst into a concrete water tank west of Melbourne in 2022
Two workers, one standing on a board at the apex of the roof and another on the ground near the edge of the tank, were trying to free one of the panels when they fell.
The 43-year-old worker, who was on the ground, fell headfirst into the tank, suffering severe head and neck injuries that left him paraplegic.
The other worker on the roof suffered a shoulder injury.
A third worker who was on the scene jumped into the tank and helped the worker with the injured shoulder hold the head of the 43-year-old man, who was “semi-conscious,” out of the water.
A ratchet strap was used to remove it.
WorkSafe Victoria inspectors later discovered that there was no safe work method statement (SWMS) in place as required for high-risk construction work.
An investigation determined that it was reasonably possible for Watertank Solutions to reduce or eliminate the risk of a fall with passive prevention, such as a scaffold or fixed ladder, to access the roof and a perimeter railing or fall arrest harness at the edge of the tank.
On Friday, the company pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to provide and maintain a safe system of work.
In addition to the fine, they were ordered to pay $3,960 in costs.
The worker’s severe head and neck injuries left him paraplegic and led to his employer being fined $45,000 (file image)
Sam Jenkin, WorkSafe’s executive director of health and safety, said there was no excuse for not taking the notorious risk of a fall from height seriously.
“In this case, the employer failed to take even the most basic precautions for working at height and as a result a man suffered catastrophic, life-changing injuries,” Jenkin said.
“This constitutes a serious breach of the employer’s duty to take all reasonable measures to ensure the safety of workers, particularly when working with well-known hazards such as heights of two metres or more.”
