It pays to be safe in Construction

31 July 2024

Becoming complacent and cutting corners in safety to prioritise a financial gain is a is a dangerous and costly misconception. During the 23-24 financial year WorkSafe ACT inspectors issued 142 infringement notices in the construction industry. resulting in $576,984 in fines, and this cost is only going to rise as the ACT introduces penalty indexation on 19 August 2024.

However, the cost of non-compliance is greater than just infringements.

Time lost 

In 2023-24 WorkSafe ACT inspectors, issued 607 improvement notices and 576 prohibition notices in the construction industry. PCBUs that receive an improvement or prohibition notice can face lengthy delays to their operations or have projects halted entirely. In an industry like construction that is deadline focused, this is a costly consequence.

Safe and Motivated Workers 

Getting work health and safety right can deliver many benefits to people and to organisations. This includes:

- improved health and happiness

- greater productivity

- higher performance

- increased job satisfaction

- greater work participation and increased social inclusion

- increased individual, team and organisational resilience

- lower absenteeism rates, and

- faster return to work

Workers’ compensation

Unsafe businesses will attract higher insurance premiums, significantly impact a business's bottom line, eroding any perceived savings from cutting corners on safety measures.

Failing to have a workers' compensation policy can result in on-the-spot fines of up to $7,500 for companies and $1,500 for sole traders if they employ workers.

WorkSafe ACT can recover as much as double the missed premium amounts for up to the previous five years. In 2022-2023 WorkSafe ACT undertook 19 premium recoveries issued to the value of $586,884.

Brand and Image 

Non-compliance can severely damage a business's reputation, especially if it leads to a prosecution.