A company which failed to provide a safe workplace for a teenage boy, resulting in him falling 12 metres to his death at the old Perth post office building, has been fined $320,000.
Key points:
- Wesley Ballantine died after falling through a roof at a construction site
- Industrial Construction Services was convicted earlier this month
- The company was due to face trial but failed to provide legal representation
Wesley Ballentine, 17, was helping install a glass roof on top of the building in January 2017 when he fell through a gap where a panel was yet to be placed.
He died of head and spinal injuries.
Industrial Construction Services (ICS) was found guilty earlier this month of causing Wesley’s death.
The verdict was delivered on the first day of trial after the firm failed to appoint a legal representative.
The Perth Magistrates Court today heard that when Wesley was hired as a casual labourer in September 2016 he was very young and inexperienced and had not completed working at heights training.
The roof was full of trip hazards including uneven boards, cords and tools.
Some gaps had been covered with plywood panels, but others remained exposed.
According to prosecutor Tanya Hollaway, ICS director Adam Forsyth told Worksafe inspectors 17 wooden boards had been purchased at a cost of $70 each to cover the voids in the roof.
But Mr Forsyth also told them more boards were not bought because the company could not afford it.
Workers were also not attached to a proper safety system while installing the large, 100-kilogram glass panels.
At one stage of the project they were provided with harnesses and were attached by lanyards, but this system was found not to be rated to prevent a fall.
Wesley was also observed on multiple occasions not wearing his harness, as were other employees.
Ms Hollaway said the general deficiency of the safety measures on the worksite was important to this case.
“There appears to be an obvious indifference by the director of ICS,” she said.
The court heard Mr Forsyth was a working director and present on site in the lead-up to, and on the day of, Wesley’s death.
‘The unbearable loss of a child’
Wesley’s mother Regan Ballantine gave a victim impact statement to the court, saying Wesley “innocently went to work one day at the age of just 17 [and] was cheated of his entire life”.
“I was cheated that day too,” she said.
“I lost my only child, I lost the father of my future grandchildren and my future carer when I get old.
“Life has asked me to bear the unbearable loss of a child.”
New laws to hold companies accountable
Ms Ballantine campaigned for legal reform following her son’s death.
Legislation passed parliament in 2020 making companies liable for a charge of industrial manslaughter in Western Australia.
Ms Ballantine said after her son’s death she hid from the world for two years.
“But in time, piece by piece, I put myself back together again,” she said.
“Not even his death can stop me from fiercely protecting him.”
ICS was charged under the old laws which carry a maximum penalty of $400,000.
Safety measures ‘highly ineffective’
Magistrate Nicholas Lemmon began his sentencing remarks by apologising to Ms Ballantine.
“Nothing I say today is going to offer you solace or comfort in regards to what happened to your son,” he said.
He described a system by which employees needed to unhook themselves from their safety lines to move around the roof space as a “highly ineffective safety measure”.
He said the project involved inherently and patently dangerous work and the risk of death would have been obvious.
“Despite this, safety measures were woefully inadequate,” he said.
He also said it would have been obvious to all involved that Wesley was especially vulnerable and should have been afforded special care and supervision and training, which was not done.
He also said there was very little mitigation to be found in the case.
The magistrate said while he did not think the company would be able to pay a large fine, the issue of general deterrence was the most important principle.
ICS has also been ordered to pay costs of a little over $22,000.
Separate charges against Mr Forsyth and former ICS manager Luke Corderoy are expected to be heard next year.
According to business records, ICS is in the process of being struck off.
