A Victorian hot air ballooning company has been fined $44,000 after an employee fell several metres through a skylight and suffered serious injuries. The accident happened in June 2021 when the worker was on a shed roof cleaning gutters at Global Ballooning Australia’s main operations centre in Dixon’s Creek. The worker fell about 3m through a fibreglass skylight onto the concrete floor below. He was taken to hospital with a fractured spine.
WorkSafe said it took two days for the company to report the incident. An investigation conducted by the work safety regulator found the company had no fall prevention measures or systems to assess and control falls from height in place. “It was reasonably practicable for the company to provide a safe system for working at height, including ensuring a fall arrest system such as a safety harness was used,” WorkSafe sai