A solar panel installer has been fined $150,000 after a worker fractured his skull when he fell through a rooftop skylight while on a job at Albion Park Rail.
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McInerney Enterprises and director Taylor McInerney pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them by SafeWork in the NSW District Court stemming from the August 2020 accident.
Hayden Mulholland was installing panels on the roof of a garage at a Croome Road residence on August 12, 2020.
According to the court documents, McInerney told Mr Mulholland to get onto the roof and then started passing up panels to him and another worker.
"As the roof and the skylight were both white in colour, Mr Mulholland was unable to differentiate between the two surfaces, and he turned and placed his foot on one of the skylights which was constructed from polycarbonate sheeting," Judge Wendy Strathdee's ruling stated.
"The sheeting gave way under Mr Mulholland's weight and he fell through the roof to the concrete floor below. The distance from the skylight to the floor was about 3.87 metres."
While Mr Mulholland had been warned by the other worker of the skylights, he had no training to work at heights and was not wearing a "fall restraint system".
"The only fall prevention available on the day were harnesses," Judge Strathdee's ruling stated, "which were not considered for this job as they were only used for steep roofs."
Mr Mulholland's head hit the concrete floor and he lost consciousness, only regaining it in the helicopter that was called to take him to hospital.
As a result of the fall, Mr Mulholland suffered a fractured skull, two broken wrists, a cracked ear bone and two cracked ribs.
"Mr Mulholland was lucky to have survived despite sustaining serious injuries," the ruling stated.
Judge Strathdee found that McInerney "did not take any steps to conduct risk assessments relating to the removal and installation of solar panels".
He also failed to ensure that Mr Mulholland was adequately trained and qualified to work at heights and did not provide "adequate supervision" to Mr Mulholland and the other worker on-site.
Judge Strathdee did note the company brought in several changes after the incident, such as the use of fall protection equipment, including harnesses, on every job.
McInerney Enterprises was fined $150,000, where the maximum penalty was $400,000.
Second defendant director McInterney was fined $750, where the maximum was $1000.
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
