Misuse of elevating work platform leads to fall from height

A Victorian plumbing and welding company has been fined $35,000 for failing to control risks associated with a fall from a height of greater than 2 metres contrary to section 23(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) (WorkSafe Victoria v Harris Plumbing and Welding Pty Ltd [2025]).

Harris Plumbing and Welding Pty Ltd had been subcontracted to undertake pipe work on the plant room roof. The works required the use of an elevating work platform (EWP) in the form of a scissor lift as a means of accessing the plant room roof. The relevant EWP used on site had a weight capacity of 230 kilograms.

On the date of the incident in March 2022, four workers – including employees and contractors of the company – entered the EWP to descend from the plant room. Shortly after beginning its descent, the EWP’s overload feature was triggered, causing it to cease operating. The EWP stopped next to a fixed platform, however, the workers were unable to exit onto this platform as the EWP’s gate was positioned against a wall of the plant room building and could not be opened.

To reduce the load, one of the workers climbed over the EWP railing and then over the railing of the fixed platform. As he stepped down, the temporary floor of the fixed platform gave way, and he fell nearly 4 metres into a skip bin below, resulting in significant injuries. It was later determined that the temporary flooring of the platform, made from particleboard, was inadequate for supporting weight. Its structural integrity had likely been compromised due to prolonged exposure to the elements.

In its judgment, the Court observed that EWPs are not specifically designed for workers to enter and exit in order to access a workspace. Normally, workers are expected to perform tasks from within the platform itself. Here, the company had effectively allowed the EWP to be used as a ‘lift’. In that context, there was a genuine risk of the EWP becoming stranded at a height exceeding 2 metres, creating the potential for a worker to exit the EWP and fall from that height.

The Court highlighted it was reasonably practicable for the company to reduce this risk by:

prior to commencing a task, informing the subcontractors of the weight capacity of the EWP and instructing them not to exceed it;
training the company’s subcontractors on the emergency rescue procedures for the EWP;
instructing the company’s subcontractors not to exit the platform of the EWP while it was in the elevated position; and/or
having a safety observer at ground level who was trained in emergency rescue procedures.

The principal and subcontractors were also fined for their own failures to implement edge protection and provide a scaffold staircase or fixed ladder to the building as a safe means of accessing and egressing the plant room roof.

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