Building company fined $75,000 after painter breaks back, leg in fall

A building company has been fined $75,000 after a painter fell through boards at a worksite in Murrumbateman and broke his back.

Laggner Constructions Pty Ltd was convicted and sentenced by the NSW District Court on Monday (3 June) after pleading guilty to an offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

According to the agreed facts of the case, the company had been contracted to build an upper-floor extension at a home in Murrumbateman, NSW, before sole traders were engaged to do the painting work.

On 12 October 2021, company director Stephen Laggner, who has over 30 years’ experience in the construction industry, and another employee created a stairway void within a newly constructed rumpus room on the second level of the house, which measured 1.8 x 1.8 metres.

The pair covered the void with two structural plywood sheets, but the sheets were neither securely fixed nor strong enough to hold a person’s weight. They put a stepladder, two red bricks, three pieces of timber and a black steel balustrade over the plywood but didn’t erect any signage, barricades or temporary edge protection systems.

On 19 October 2021, three men arrived to begin the painting work. One, who did not know about the void, went up to the second level of the house to start work and stepped on one of the plywood sheets, which gave way under him.

He fell about 2.7 metres to the floor below and sustained fractures to his leg and back.

Mr Laggner later told SafeWork investigators that the plywood sheets were placed across the void to prevent people from falling through it, as well as to prevent heat loss from the downstairs area.

“He was aware that it would not have been safe to walk on the plywood. At the time of creating the void, Mr Laggner did not expect any other person to be entering the upstairs area,” Judge Andrew Scotting said.

Laggner Constructions did have a Safe Work Method Statement in place for the project, but it was not signed by any of the site’s workers. It identified the potential hazard of falling when working near voids and detailed control measures to deal with this, but these measures were not implemented around the void at the site.

After the worker’s fall and in response to a prohibition notice, the company stopped all work on the second floor and installed a secure cover, handrail and a warning sign at the void.

Judge Scotting said the risk posed to workers and other persons by falling through the void was “obvious and known” to the company, and he described the injuries the worker suffered in the fall as “serious”.

“Whilst it can be accepted that the offender took some steps to alleviate the risk, those steps were inadequate,” the judge said.

“The offender should have installed a cover that could have supported the weight of a person, rather than the makeshift cover, and thereby eliminated the risk.”

Judge Scotting said Laggner Constructions was a small, family-owned and operated company that had never been issued with any improvement or prohibition notices before this incident.

He said Mr Laggner had taken every opportunity to comply with SafeWork NSW’s investigation and the company had taken significant steps to improve its safety systems as a result of the incident.

Laggner Constructions pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of workers at work in the business or undertaking, thereby exposing one to the risk of death or serious injury.

It was also ordered to pay the prosecutor’s costs for the proceedings.