A man charged over the death of a teenager at a worksite in Perth has gone on trial in the magistrates court.
Wesley Ballantine, 17, was helping install glass at the GPO building in Forrest Place early on January 5, 2017 when he fell to his death.
It is alleged Luke Fraser Corderoy was a director of Industrial Construction Services (ICS) which was contracted to do the work at the H&M site in Forrest Place in 2017.
It is also alleged his neglect as a director led to the tragedy.
'Nothing for workers to 'hook on to': Prosecution
Prosecutor Tanya Hollaway told the court Mr Corderoy was helping run ICS with Adam Forsyth.
Ms Hollaway said Mr Corderoy made a lot of decisions and had authority to act on behalf of the company.
She told the court the atrium roof at the site was being constructed after hours, and the fatality happened during the glass installation phase.
The court heard that not enough plywood had been purchased and there were "open voids".
Ms Hollaway said there was nothing for workers to "hook on to" and there were inadequate safety measures in place.
It was inherently unsafe with no safety harness, she told the court.
The court was told Mr Corderoy and Mr Forsyth were both working at the site at the time of the tragedy.
Wesley Ballantine, who was employed to do labouring and clean-up work, was on top of the atrium near Mr Corderoy when he fell 12 metres.
Ms Hollaway asserted that as manager, Mr Corderoy failed to do his duty.
She said he neglected to ensure there was proper training, and did not ensure there was material strong enough to prevent someone from falling.
Accused claims no involvement
In his opening statement Luke Corderoy — who was representing himself — detailed his work history in the lead up to his involvement with ICS.
He told the court he was happy to do design work for ICS but "wanted nothing to do with fabrication, or running of staff or installation".
The 50-year-old said he had "always maintained everything had to go through Adam [Forsyth]", because he was a rigger.
"I wasn't on site much at all," Mr Corderoy told the court.
"Running of staff I had absolutely nothing to do with," he said.
The first witness, Senior Constable Matthew Healy told the court he was called to Forrest Place after 4:30am.
Senior Constable Healy said he saw two ambulances outside the building, then found several workers in shock and looking "quite dazed".
He said he saw paramedics performing CPR on a male, and did not see any equipment on him.
The trial is set down for 10 days.
