Company manager fined $60k after worker’s death

A West Australian construction company has become the latest business fined after the death of one of its employees.

Luke Fraser Corderoy, a manager of Industrial Construction Services (ICS), has been fined $60,000 (and ordered to pay $45,813.50 in costs) after he was found guilty of failing to provide and maintain a work environment free from hazards.

The fine stems from a 2017 incident, which saw 17-year-old worker Wesley Ballantine die after he fell through a void in the roof of an internal atrium at the old GPO building during the construction of an H&M store in Forrest Place, Perth.

At the time, “ICS was engaged as a subcontractor to construct and install the steel and glass atrium roof between floors two and three in the central area of the building, which was the final stage in the project to refurbish the heritage landmark building and convert it into an H&M store,” a statement from WorkSafe Western Australia explained.

“In January 2017, workers were on night shift installing the glass panels in the atrium roof. At around 4.15am on January 5, Wesley Ballantine fell through an open void in the atrium framework to the ground floor around 12 metres below. Despite the fact that there were several open voids in the framework and workers were expected to work close to them, there was no adequate fall injury prevention system present for workers to connect their harnesses to.”

The fine comes after ICS was found guilty in 2021 of failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing the death of Wesley Ballantine.

It was then ruled Mr Corderoy, as ICS’s manager of the H&M job, had responsibility for the safety of the workers.

The magistrate said Mr Corderoy knew of the unsafe conditions and neglected to put a stop to them. He did note, however, that Mr Corderoy was not the only person who should have done something and did not.

“There was no adequate risk assessment for the glass installation, and no Safe Work Method Statement was implemented,” WorkSafe commissioner Darren Kavanagh said.

“ICS secured plywood boards on top of the steel frame before the glass panels were installed, but a number of voids were left open as there [were] not enough boards to cover the openings.

“At the time of the incident, the only fall prevention measure in place was for workers to sling onto the steel framework using slings along the steel beams connected to their lanyard and a safety harness.

“The fall prevention system was inadequate because workers were exposed to the fall hazard when moving from one beam to another.”

Mr Kavanagh added the death should serve as a reminder to employers to ensure they’ve got safe measures in place for all employees.

“The tragic death of this young worker should remind everyone of the importance of having safe systems of work in place to prevent falls from height and actually using these safe systems,” he said.

“I’m pleased that the court has found that Mr Corderoy did not provide and maintain a safe workplace for his workers, and that he has been penalised accordingly.

“This incident has caused an enormous amount of trauma, and I hope that the finalisation of these court cases can provide some closure for Wesley Ballantine’s mother and family.”

This incident follows HR Leader’s reporting of another similar in nature.

Earlier this month, GN Residential Construction had its contractor licence permanently disqualified, and director Nicholas Kodomichalos received a 10-year disqualification for the April 2019 collapse that killed 18-year-old Christopher Cassaniti.

Also this month, engineering services company Buddco was fined $600,000 after contractor Craig Tanner was trapped and killed by a mixing blade in a commercial ink tank in 2017.