GUSTING winds which brought down scaffolding on a building site in the main street of Gosford has landed 21st Century Building Services Pty Ltd with a hefty fine.
There were seven workers on-site at the time of the incident, none of who were injured.
But, some of the 60 metres of scaffolding hit an innocent woman in the back of the head as she was waiting to cross the road.
She was taken to Gosford Hospital with minor head injuries.
It also damaged seven cars, parked adjacent to the build site; knocked down a light post, hit a ute which was stopped in traffic, and damaged another car parked across the road.
The scaffold was about 4.2 metres high and about 60 metres, or 21 bays long, and largely retained its form when it fell, according to documents filed in the NSW District Court.
The Bureau of Meteorology had predicted the winds, SafeWork NSW said.
The building company pleaded guilty to two offences under the Work Health and Safety Act, the first, putting at risk the lives and safety of its workers, and the second, putting at risk the life and safety of the woman who was struck.
During the morning leading up to the incident on August 19, 2020, mesh was removed from the scaffold due to concerns about the winds and the scaffold's stability.
About an hour later, at 3.55pm, SafeWork Inspector Christopher Kearney conducted a site inspection and found scaffolding with plywood attached lying over the footpath and parked cars on Mann Street, two decks in some sections and one in others.
Civil 1 Pty Ltd, was the principal contractor for demolition works at the site on Mann Street, Gosford.
21st Century Building had begun installing scaffolding at the Civil 1 job site on July 23, 2020.
There was a particular set sequence in which demolition works were supposed to occur, to ensure a gradual and staged approach so that the scaffold and buildings could be dismantled in tandem, the court was told.
The Civil 1 workers were supposed to give 21st Century Building two days notice as to when scaffolders were needed on site to dismantle it.
But on numerous occasions demolition took place without scaffolders present.
That information, that "unauthorised tampering" had taken place and the scaffolding was unsecured and unstable, was relayed to the company's managing director, Fadi Ayache.
He trusted his men on site to follow training and confront Civil 1, however, it occurred again on August 9 and 10.
Despite a "heated argument" with a Civil 1 labourer about the unauthorised tampering, it then occurred again between August 15-17.
"Even though we were contracted for the scaffolding to remain onsite for two months, they had completed the whole demolition in less than one by advancing as quickly as humanly possible without any regard as to whether the scaffolders were booked or present," Mr Ayache said.
Since the incident, the business has invested in better Work Health and Safety procedures, training, and protocols, the court was told.
Justice David Russell SC said the potential consequences of the risk, which was "eminently foreseeable", was death or serious injury.
"Given that 60 metres of scaffolding which was blown over, onto a busy street with pedestrians and cars, it was only good luck that no-one was more seriously injured," Justice Russell said.
The company was convicted and fined a total of $300,000, with a 25 per cent discount due to a guilty plea, bringing it to $225,000.
