When a Shed Roof Job Ends in a Prison Sentence

10 hours ago

7 min read

The MT Sheds prosecution shows what happens when workers are sent onto a roof without effective fall protection, appropriate training or the required licences. The practical lesson starts before anyone leaves the ground.

Illustrative isometric shed with orange perimeter edge protection and a protected access tower with a self-closing roof-entry gate. A ground-level material pack is shown secured. Three callouts identify fall prevention, protected access and control of roofing sheets. This is not the incident site.

Shed-roof control diagram showing collective edge protection, protected access and material-control planning. Diagram: Safety Jon.

A gust of wind lifted a roof sheet during shed construction at Beaumont, WA. Two workers were swept from the roof. Jake Williams, 25, died. His colleague, Fraser Pinchin, survived with serious injuries.

The incident happened on 10 March 2020. The sentencing followed in May 2021, so this is an older prosecution with a lesson that remains painfully current. Before discussing paperwork or individual behaviour, look at the conditions in which the work was allowed to proceed. ABC court reporting

There was no edge protection or fall-injury prevention system in place. A foreseeable loss of balance, moving sheet or unexpected gust could put a worker over the edge.

The work method left very little room for anything to go wrong.

What happened at Beaumont WA

MT Sheds (WA) Pty Ltd was erecting a farm shed east of Esperance, WA. The prosecution record describes roof sheets approximately 12 metres long being lifted onto a temporary sheeted platform.

After the lifting sling was removed from a pack, a sudden gust lifted the top sheet and pushed both workers from the front roof edge. Williams fell approximately nine metres near the apex. Pinchin fell approximately seven metres near the gutter line.

Harnesses and static lines were available, but remained at the workshop in Esperance, WA. Neither worker had been trained by the company in working at height or using the equipment. Neither had used a harness for that work. WorkSafe prosecution record

Technical diagram of wind arrows reaching a loose top roofing sheet above a sheet pack. The sheet is shown lifted to explain the hazard; no workers or fall paths are depicted.

Wind acting on an unsecured top sheet can create a moving hazard while workers remain exposed to a fall. This is a mechanism illustration, not a reconstruction. Diagram: Safety Jon.

That distinction matters. Buying safety equipment is the beginning of a control process. Somebody still has to select the right system, get it to the job, install it correctly, train the people using it and verify that it protects them throughout the task.

What the court imposed

On 24 May 2021, the Esperance Magistrates Court sentenced director Mark Thomas Withers to 26 months’ imprisonment: eight months to be served immediately, with the remaining 18 months suspended for 12 months.

MT Sheds received a $550,000 fine for gross negligence, plus $55,000 for high-risk-work licensing and construction-induction offences. The company’s total fines were therefore $605,000. Withers was also fined $2,250 for operating a non-slewing mobile crane without the required licence. WorkSafe sentencing announcement

The prosecution was under WA’s Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984. It was a gross-negligence case, not an industrial-manslaughter conviction. WA’s current WHS laws, including the industrial-manslaughter offence, commenced on 31 March 2022.

Keeping those dates straight matters when drawing lessons from the case. WorkSafe commencement notice

The job needed a safe method before anyone went up

Large roof sheets require a planned method for lifting, receiving, securing and installing them. Workers also need a protected place to stand while completing each stage.

The forecast and the conditions on arrival inform that plan, but the plan must cope with change. Specify how sheets will be secured, who monitors conditions and what requires work to stop. Use the relevant equipment and material-handling limits, together with a task-specific assessment. A generic wind-speed figure copied from another job can create false confidence.

The prosecution record also describes workers stepping from a raised elevating work platform onto the roof, despite the machine’s manual prohibiting that transfer. Access arrangements deserve the same scrutiny as the roofing work itself. A convenient route to the roof can introduce another unprotected transition. Director’s prosecution record

For supervisors, the useful question is: can every stage be carried out safely with the people, plant and protection actually on site? If the answer depends on equipment back at the workshop, the job is not ready.

Fall protection starts with the work design

Start by eliminating the need to work at height where reasonably practicable.

Consider ground-level assembly and installation methods that reduce roof exposure, while controlling the lifting and stability risks they introduce.

Where work at height remains, follow the falls-control hierarchy: suitable fall-prevention devices first, then work-positioning systems where prevention is not reasonably practicable, then fall-arrest systems where the higher options are not reasonably practicable. Examples include properly designed scaffolds, protected platforms, edge protection and suitable EWPs. Selection must address the whole task. Safe Work Australia roof-work guidance

Four-step fall-control selection guide: avoid height exposure; fall-prevention devices; work-positioning or restraint; and fall arrest with designed anchors, clearance, training and rescue. Training and paperwork support rather than replace physical controls.

Start by removing the need to work at height, then select higher-order fall controls wherever reasonably practicable. Fall arrest needs a complete system and rescue arrangements. Diagram: Safety Jon.

Check both external edges and internal openings. Perimeter protection alone does not prevent a fall through an unprotected opening or unsuitable roof surface.

If a personal system is needed, determine whether it prevents the worker reaching a fall position or arrests a fall after it starts. Fall arrest requires suitable anchorages, compatible equipment, adequate clearance, control of swing hazards and a workable rescue arrangement. Workers need to understand and practise the system.

Emergency services are important, but their phone number is not a complete rescue plan. WA falls code of practice

There is also a current WA detail worth checking. From 1 October 2026, regulation 79 of the WHS General Regulations applies to high-risk construction work after the transitional arrangements ended. Regulation 79 has no prescribed height threshold.

Do not carry the old edge-height thresholds into a current procedure. WorkSafe’s current falls requirements

A licence check needs the right question

The employees in this case performed dogging, basic rigging and boom-type EWP work without the required licence classes. Withers held those classes but lacked the licence needed for the non-slewing mobile crane he operated. The case illustrates why asking whether someone is “ticketed” is too vague. Director’s prosecution record

Match the person to the actual work and plant:

Dogging and rigging require the appropriate high-risk-work licence coverage for the work performed
Operating a boom-type EWP with a boom length of 11 metres or more requires the WP licence class
Non-slewing mobile crane work above three tonnes capacity requires the appropriate crane licence coverage
Construction-induction evidence and task-specific competence need separate checks

Any claimed exemption or supervised-training arrangement also needs to be checked against the applicable requirements.

There is no general high-risk-work licence called “working at heights”. A heights-training certificate, white card and high-risk-work licence establish different things.

None removes the need to verify that a worker can use the selected equipment and follow this job’s safe method. WA licence classes; WorkSafe employer responsibilities

Three rows distinguish construction induction, task competence and a high-risk work licence for prescribed classes. A highlighted example specifies operating a boom-type EWP with 11 metres or more boom length requires the WP licence.

A White Card, task competence and prescribed high-risk work licensing answer different questions. Operating a boom-type EWP with a boom length of 11 metres or more requires the WP licence class. Diagram: Safety Jon.

Make the SWMS match the roof

Under current WA requirements, construction work involving a risk of a person falling more than two metres is high-risk construction work requiring a safe work method statement, or SWMS. Other triggers may also apply. That two-metre threshold does not mean shorter falls can be ignored.

The SWMS must identify the high-risk work, hazards, controls and how those controls will be implemented, monitored and reviewed. Involve the workers who will do the job, and make the document useful at the workface. WorkSafe SWMS guidance

For shed roofing, test it against real decisions: where the sheet pack lands, when the lifting gear is released, how individual sheets are restrained, how workers remain protected as installation progresses, and how they get off the roof if conditions deteriorate.

Four SWMS checks ask where people stand, what prevents a fall, what changes make the method unsafe, and who stops work and verifies restart. A note identifies WA’s more-than-two-metre high-risk construction SWMS trigger without implying lower falls are safe.

Link the safe work method statement to the actual sequence, fall protection, changing conditions and stop/restart decision. A fall risk below the SWMS height trigger can still require controls. Diagram: Safety Jon.

A completed signature page tells you people signed something. Walk the job to establish whether the stated controls are present and usable. If the work departs from the SWMS, stop it as soon as it is safe to do so and resume only in accordance with the SWMS. A clipboard has an impressive administrative range, but a disappointing ability to catch people.

A supervisor check before roof access

Before roof access, I would want the responsible supervisor to be able to show:

A safe access route and a working area protected for each stage of installation
A verified method for lifting, landing, restraining and handling the sheets
The required licences, induction evidence and demonstrated task-specific competence
Serviceable equipment used within its instructions and limits
Clear stop-work triggers, communications and an effective emergency arrangement

Use an actual site inspection and discussion with the crew. When the weather, method, plant or protection changes, reassess before continuing. Make the person who can authorise a restart identifiable. Leaving that decision to whoever is most impatient is a poor allocation of responsibility.

A supervisor verification diagram groups checks into plan, people, plant and materials, and conditions and response. The decision splits into hold the work when controls are absent or uncertain, or start and keep checking when controls are verified.

Verify the plan, people, plant, materials and conditions before starting. A missing or uncertain critical control means hold the work, correct the gap and check again. Diagram: Safety Jon.

The Safety Jon View

For directors today, WA’s officer duty requires due diligence to ensure the business meets its WHS obligations. That includes actively checking how safety is managed. Reports should connect to evidence from the work itself. WA officer-duty guidance

Ask to see a current roof job. Ask how the fall controls were selected, who checked them and what happens when work cannot proceed safely. Check whether time and resources support the answer.

The MT Sheds case involved a worker’s death, another worker’s serious injuries, a prison sentence and substantial fines. Its practical lesson is available before the next incident: organise the work so that people are protected while doing it, and verify that protection before allowing them onto the roof.

What is the highest-risk task on your site this week? Who has checked that its critical controls are in place and being followed?