A recent OHS decision has reinforced the need to act as soon as you become aware of any concerns over safety. This is to prevent any incident or accident occurring by doing whatever is reasonably practicable.
In this instance, the company received a number of reports concerning grates becoming dislodged, stating that they were likely to cause an individual to fall through. This showed that the company was fully aware of both the issue and the possible consequences. The company took some action in fixing a portion of the grates, but did not check every grate to see if they had the same risk factors.
The results of this was utterly tragic. An individual unfortunately fell through one of the grates and was killed. The company was was charged in accordance with s21 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic).
The Court noted that the company did not take all the adequate steps it could have to prevent this tragedy from occuring. This was especially concerning given that they knew the consequence of inaction.
It is extremely important to ensure that you always take all possible steps to prevent any safety issues or breaches to arise. Particularly when the consequences of such issues are known, and of a very serious nature.