Construction Company Fines Double on Appeal After Skylight Fall

What happened?

Three construction companies have been convicted and fined a combined $100,200 after an appeal, for failing to control the risk of falls. An apprentice carpenter fell 3.24 metres through a skylight void on a townhouse site in Footscray.

In April 2024 the apprentice was working on the first level of one of five multi-storey townhouses when he fell through the void to the ground floor. He lost consciousness briefly and suffered minor injuries.

WorkSafe inspectors found he and his co-workers had been working at height with unprotected live edges, and with skylight and stair voids left open. Prohibition notices were issued. Guard rails and void covers went in later that month, before work started again.

The gap in protection did not stay closed. In June 2024 an inspector returned and saw two workers on the second level, about six metres up, still without adequate fall protection. Further notices were issued. The next day the companies installed guard rails on the first and second levels of all five townhouses.

The appeal outcome

In May 2026 the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court fined KZ Construction Group Pty Ltd and Kerimov Constructions Pty Ltd $20,000 each, and Calibre Construction Victoria Pty Ltd $10,000, all without conviction. Each company had pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to provide a workplace that was safe and without risks to health.

On 23 September the Melbourne County Court set those sentences aside. It recorded convictions and doubled the penalties: $40,000 each for KZ Construction Group and Kerimov Constructions, and $20,200 for Calibre Construction Victoria.

The companies must also pay the original costs: $2,736 for KZ Construction, and $3,123 each for Kerimov Constructions and Calibre.

The court found it was reasonably practicable to install suitable, compliant guard railing and to cover every unprotected void. Calibre also admitted it had not carried out the work in line with its safe work method statement.

Why falls through voids keep hurting people

A skylight or stair opening on an upper floor is a hole at height. Without a cover or a guard rail, one step the wrong way is a fall. A drop of a little over three metres was enough to knock an apprentice unconscious. Two months later, workers were seen at about six metres with the same kind of protection still missing.

Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of serious injury and death in Victorian workplaces. Notices after an incident only help if the controls stay in place on every level, not only on the floor where someone has already been hurt.

What employers should be doing

Work at height should start with the highest control that is practicable:

• Do the work on the ground, or from solid construction, where that is possible.
• Use passive protection such as scaffolds, screens, guard rails, safety mesh or elevating work platforms.
• Use a travel-restraint or other positioning system so people cannot reach an unprotected edge.
• Where a fall cannot be prevented, use fall arrest such as a harness, catch platform or safety net.
• Treat ladders and administrative rules as the last option, not the default.

For high risk construction work, a safe work method statement has to be in place before the job starts, and the work has to follow it. If it is not being followed, work should stop. The statement should be reviewed when the job changes or when the controls are not working, and a copy should be kept for the life of that work.

The bigger picture

The first fall should have been the end of unprotected voids on that site. Instead, inspectors found a similar gap on a higher level two months later. The appeal shows a court will replace a fine without conviction with a conviction and a higher penalty when fall risks are left in place.

TL;DR

• An apprentice fell 3.24 metres through a skylight void at a Footscray townhouse site in April 2024.
• Inspectors found unprotected edges and open voids, then later found workers at about six metres with inadequate fall protection.
• KZ Construction Group, Kerimov Constructions and Calibre Construction Victoria pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safe workplace.
• On appeal, their fines were doubled to $40,000, $40,000 and $20,200, and convictions were recorded.
• Calibre also admitted the work was not done in line with its safe work method statement.

Source: WorkSafe Victoria, “Construction companies’ fines double on appeal”, 1 October 2026.