On 20 May 2026 a construction and project management company was sentenced in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court for breaching section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (‘the Act’). The defendant pleaded guilty having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duty thereby exposing workers to the risk of death or serious injury.

The defendant operated a design, construction and project management business. It was the principal contractor engaged to remove and replace the roof of an abattoir at Beenleigh.

The defendant engaged a specialist roofing contractor to undertake works which included removal of roofing material and re-sheeting the existing roof.

On 16 March 2021, workers employed by the roofing contractor and other workers were at the workplace. The work required workers to stand on the existing roof that was being incrementally replaced above a cold room ceiling. The roof above the cold room ceiling panels had four existing skylights or penetrations. At roof level, the skylights were sealed by fixed domes constructed of plastic (that could not be opened) which were opaque in appearance. The shafts of each skylight, which had at some earlier time been open at ceiling level within the cold room had been ‘patched’ approximately 15 years before the incident.

The workers were not warned about the dangers of standing on the ceiling ‘plug’ or working inside the skylights. The workers were not wearing harnesses. There was no catch barrier underneath the skylights. GCMR had installed edge protection around the perimeter of the roof. There was no edge protection around each skylight.

One of the workers stood inside a skylight and was in the process of lifting the timbers up from around the skylight housing when he fell through the ceiling of the cold room and landed on the concrete below, a fall of approximately 6.060 metres. He suffered multiple fractures to his femur, hip, pelvis, elbow and spine.

This matter was held in abeyance to await determination of the appeal in Nicholson v GCMR Project Services Pty Ltd [2025] QCA 24 (“GCMR”), which involved a related duty-holder. Following determination of the appeal, the defendant entered a plea of guilty. Sentencing submissions were heard on 8 May 2026, with the prosecution submitting, as a matter of fairness, that the appropriate penalty was a fine of $75,000, that being the fine imposed against GCMR. Magistrate O’Driscoll reserved his decision until 20 May 2026.

His Honour had regard to the principles set out in Steward v Mac Plant Pty Ltd and Mac Farms Pty Ltd [2018] QDC 20 and noted the need for any penalty to deter and denounce the conduct. In mitigation, his Honour considered that the failure did not arise from an egregious act or a deliberate disregard of safety obligations, and there were a number of unusual circumstances. His Honour also had regard to the defendant’s prior good character, early plea of guilty, and post-incident improvements to its safety system.

Magistrate O’Driscoll convicted and fined the defendant $75,000 and exercised his discretion not to record a conviction.

OWHSP contact: enquiries@owhsp.qld.gov.au