Employee falls through stair void on housing construction site

Background

An employee fell 3 m to a concrete slab when the void platform they were working on collapsed. The employee was hurt in the fall.

In this incident, the void platform:

• measured 6.6 m x 4.7 m
• was made up of 8 platforms which were hooked over modified lattice beams
• was made up of a mixture of aluminium and steel components
• was not adequately secured.

The lattice beams were cut and modified by the installer. The void platform failed and collapsed.

Safety Issues

Falls are a leading cause of fatalities and serious injuries on Victorian construction sites. They often happen because fall prevention controls are inadequate.

Void platforms are a passive fall prevention device and can be an effective way to allow works to be done safely around stair voids.

Recommended ways to control risk

Employers need to ensure that void platforms are designed by a competent person, such as a manufacturer or engineer, to ensure they are structurally sound. Design drawings should be developed, and components need to be compatible.

In smaller or typical stair void areas, proprietary void platforms can be installed as per the manufacturer’s instructions. However, a competent person may need to prepare a site-specific design for a larger or complex stair void area. Such designs may specify propping, bracing, or beams to support the platform.

Consult with your employees about the design of the void platform to ensure it is suitable for their work.

Only competent persons should install void platforms. Construct void platforms to the design drawings. Consult the manufacturer or designer for any required changes.

Inspect void platforms to ensure they are safe. Arrange for a competent person to inspect the void platform every 30 days to ensure it is safe and has not been tampered with.

Void platforms should not be removed until:

• the permanent stairs or other fall prevention devices have been installed, and
• all works above the void, for example, plastering and painting, have been completed.

Legal duties

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act), employers must:

• so far as is reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to the health of employees and independent contractors
• provide or maintain plant or systems of work that are safe and without risks to health, so far as is reasonably practicable
• provide employees and independent contractors with the necessary information, instruction, training or supervision to enable them to do their work in a way that is safe and without risks to health
• ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that people other than employees are not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the employer's conduct.

Under the OHS Act, a person who installs, erects or commissions plant at a workplace must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that nothing about the way in which the plant is installed, erected or commissioned makes its use unsafe or a risk to health.