- Joshua Field, 12, fell from a construction site roof in 2022
- Construction companies fined $468,000 over deaths
- READ MORE: Family calls son ‘hero’ after he died in fall from construction site roof
A construction company has been fined after a 12-year-old boy managed to enter a construction site and then fall.
Joshua Field, 12, climbed down the roof of a building in May 2022 and died after he fell and was struck by a falling beam.
He had entered a building site at Maddington in south-east Perth through an open gate with his brother and cousins, who witnessed his fall.
His family had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support after he was rushed to Perth Children’s Hospital, 7News reported at the time.
PTG Construction was responsible for the site and built five single-storey residential units near densely populated residential areas where families with young children lived.
The company pleaded guilty to two charges: failing to secure the workplace it controlled from unauthorized access.
This week the company was fined $18,000 and ordered to pay $1,500 in costs at Armadale Magistrates Court.
Joshua’s sister, Charnte Turner, said at the time that her family had lost a “beautiful soul”.
Joshua Field, 12, was playing in an unsecured location and was killed after falling from a roof
Joshua’s sister, Charnte Turner, remembered ‘Joshy’ as a ‘hero’ after his life support was turned off
“My 12-year-old brother Joshy was injured while playing on a construction site,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page asking for support.
‘Shortly after being rushed to hospital and fighting for his life, he unfortunately did not make it.’
Charnte described her brother as a “hero” for donating his heart, lungs and kidneys to save others.
In a separate incident, Merym Pty Ltd, trading as EMCO Building, was found guilty of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace after a subcontractor became trapped under a concrete staircase which collapsed on him.
In April 2019, masons from Swinging Bricklayers removed the steel struts supporting the stairs to build a load-bearing wall beneath the newly formed concrete stairs.
Merym was fined $450,000 for causing grievous harm and $35,000 in court costs at the Perth District Court.
Merym Pty Ltd fined $450,000 for an employee who was injured by a collapsing concrete staircase
Swinging Bricklayers was also fined $600,000 and ordered to pay $5,000 in costs in February 2023.
Sally North, commissioner at WorkSafe, said there could be a wide range of safety risks on construction sites. The two cases illustrate this.
‘In the case against Merym Pty Ltd, the company was the main contractor and converted the staircase from a prefabricated staircase that was assembled off-site and then installed on pre-built load-bearing brick walls to a staircase that was cast and poured on-site, with the brick walls constructed underneath after the formwork was removed,’ she said.
‘The masons had little to no experience with this type of staircase and had not been warned not to remove the props as they were holding the staircase up.
‘There was a lack of risk assessment, communication and instruction during the work. Both companies involved in the incident have now been held accountable.’
Ms North said the case against PTG Construction and Development shows how important site security is in protecting the public from the dangers of a construction site.
“In this case, there were security gates in place, but they were often left open after closing time when the venue was unattended because PTG had no system in place to ensure the gate was closed and locked when the venue was unattended,” she said.
‘WA’s workplace health and safety legislation requires the person in charge of a construction site to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace is secured from unauthorised access.’