A builder from Willoworks Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $65,000 in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court after metal scaffolding was assembled within 10cm of a live power cable on an Elwood construction site.

Willoworks previously pled guilty to a charge of failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health. They were also ordered to pay $4,210 in costs.

The court hears that Willoworks was constructing four triple-storey townhouses in Elwood and hired a subcontractor to construct scaffolding at the worksite in January 2023.

In April 2023, a visiting WorkSafe inspector found metal scaffolding within 10cm of a power service cable with an orange bollard marked “danger live power” placed over the cable. The inspector directed two workers on the site to leave immediately due to the risk of electrocution.

A WorkSafe investigation confirmed the service cable was energised since August 2022 and the local power company didn’t receive an application from Willoworks for a required permit to work in a No-Go-Zone which is within 4.6m of a live power line.

It was also found that Willoworks didn’t follow its Safe Work Method Statement which identified the risk of scaffolding near power lines and required the electricity to be isolated or a No-Go-Zone to be implemented.

“It’s galling that this very serious hazard of working near live power lines was identified on the site, yet no effort was made to take the appropriate safety measures already outlined in the company’s Safe Work Method Statement,” WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Sam Jenkins says.

“Workplace safety is not about ticking boxes, and in this case the failure to manage the risk could have easily resulted in serious injury or death.”

The scaffolding company linked to Willoworks, Scaff Right Scaffolding Pty Ltd, has also been charged and will appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 26 March 2025.