Construction company fined heavily over tragic death of 12-year-old Joshua Field, who fell to the ground while his brother and cousins ​​watched in Maddington, Perth

A construction company has been fined after a 12-year-old boy managed to gain access to a construction site before falling to his death.

Joshua Field, 12, climbed onto the roof area of ​​a building and died after falling and being struck by a falling beam in May 2022.

He had gained access to a construction site in Maddington, south-east of Perth, through an unlocked gate with his brother and cousins, who then witnessed his fall.

His family had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support after he was rushed to Perth Children’s Hospital, 7News reported at the time.

PTG Construction was responsible for the site and had been building five single-story residential units near high-density housing where families with young children lived.

The company pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to ensure that the workplace under its control was protected from unauthorized access.

The company was fined $18,000 and ordered to pay $1,500 in costs at Armadale Magistrates Court this week.

At the time, Joshua’s sister Charnte Turner said her family had lost a “beautiful soul.”

“My 12-year-old brother Joshy was injured after playing at a construction site,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page asking for support.

‘Shortly after being rushed to hospital and fighting for his life, he sadly did not make it.’

Charnte described his brother as a “hero” for donating his heart, lungs and kidneys to save others.

In a separate incident, Merym Pty Ltd, trading as EMCO Building, was found guilty of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace after a subcontractor was trapped beneath a concrete staircase that collapsed on him.

In April 2019, bricklayers employed by Swinging Bricklayers had removed the steel supports holding up the staircase to build a load-bearing wall beneath the newly formed concrete stairs.

Merym was fined $450,000 for causing serious damage and $35,000 in court costs in Perth Magistrates Court.

Swinging Bricklayers was also fined $600,000 and ordered to pay $5,000 in costs in February 2023.

WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said there could be a wide range of safety risks on construction sites and the two cases illustrated this point.

‘In the case against Merym Pty Ltd, the company was the main contractor and changed the stairs from a prefabricated staircase that was assembled off-site and then installed into pre-built load-bearing brick walls to a staircase that was cast and poured on site with the brick walls built underneath when the formwork was removed,’ he said.

‘The masons had little or no experience working with these types of stairs and were not warned to avoid removing the props because they were supporting the stairs.

‘The work lacked risk assessment, communication and training, and both companies involved in the incident have now been held accountable.’

Ms North said the case against PTG Construction and Development illustrated the importance of site safety in protecting the public from the dangers of a construction site.

“In this case there were security gates, but they were frequently left open outside of business hours when the site was left unattended because PTG did not have a system in place to ensure the gate was closed and locked when the site was left unattended,” he said.

‘WA’s work health and safety laws require that the person in charge of a construction site must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace is protected against unauthorised access.’