SafeWork SA is issuing a safety alert after a person was killed and two were seriously injured in falls less than 2 metres over the past 6 weeks.

SafeWork SA received notification that a worker suffered fatal head injuries when they fell to the floor while installing ceiling joists from a ladder within a warehouse in January. SafeWork SA is currently investigating the incident.

Two other workers have recently received serious injuries after falling from height.

The first incident occurred when a worker, traversing between two levels of a modular scaffold at a residential construction site, sustained fractures to their shoulder and a serious laceration to their left hand when the foot of the access ladder slipped out causing the worker to fall heavily on the platform. 

The scaffold access from level 2 to level 3 had been inadequately installed by the builder and not undertaken by a scaffolder holding a high risk work licence.

In the second incident, a worker, drilling holes for a down pipe at a residential construction site, fell from a ladder, impaling their left foot on an unprotected vertical reo bar. At the time of the incident the ground around the work area was uneven.

The authority is warning operators that they must take reasonably practicable control measures to manage the risk of falls from heights, particularly providing adequate information, training and supervision when workers are required to use ladders.

Portable ladders are one of the least stable but most commonly used tools for working at heights and typically require workers to be more vigilant about the risk of falling.

Portable ladders can be a sensible and practical option for working at height when the use of other equipment is not reasonably practicable because of the low risk and short duration of the work.

“Deaths and serious life changing injuries through falling from ladders can occur from surprisingly low heights,” says SafeWork SA Acting Executive Director, Glenn Farrell.

“This is highlighted by the fact that in 2021, 61 per cent of serious injuries associated with a fall below 2 metres were from a ladder. Most of these incidents involve a ladder being used incorrectly or inappropriately.

“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incidents, the serious injuries sustained by the workers could have been prevented.

“Sadly, one of those workers will not be going home to his family as a result of falling from a ladder at work”.