Construction site accidents and injured workers
29 January 2026
Falling from a height is the leading cause of traumatic injuries and fatalities in the NSW construction industry, closely followed by construction site accidents involving electricity.
Alarming rate of construction site accidents
Safe Work Australia statistics are disturbing: in the year 2022-23 there were 36 fatalities in the construction industry. Construction accidents led to 16,647 claims for compensation, with a median payout of $18,479. (Construction, Safe Work Australia.)
The accidents are tragic. A 17-year-old worker was seriously injured when he fell 9.5 metres through a gap between scaffolding and the building under construction. A 68-year-old who was painting died when he came into contact with an overhead electrical service line.
A 26-year-old slid four metres off a shed roof and was seriously injured. A 20-year-old fell through a skylight and died. A worker was killed when he fell five metres through a roof.
Construction site accidents and compensation entitlements
In NSW dependants of those who have died in workplace accidents are entitled to a lump sum payment, plus weekly payments for dependent children. Families or legal representatives of the deceased worker can make the compensation claim for dependants. (What you can claim, State Insurance Regulatory Authority, 19 December 2024.)
Injured workers are entitled not only to workers compensation to meet the costs of medical treatment, rehabilitation, travel costs and lost wages, but may also be entitled to a lump sum payment for permanent impairment.
Claiming for impairment after construction site accidents
The process to claim for impairment can be complicated. The cost of making a claim is met by the government-funded Independent Review Office and lawyers’ fees are paid by the government scheme.
In NSW this involves assessing the percentage of Whole Person Impairment (WPI). If it is above ten per cent, the injured person may be eligible for a lump sum payment.
The NSW legislation covering workplace safety is the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 no 10, which is enforced by SafeWork NSW.
Did the accident happen due to an employer's negligence?
If it can be established that the accident happened due to the employer’s negligence, a common law damages claim could be made. If the impairment is permanent, the injured person may be able to claim total and permanent disability (TPD).
Determining who is responsible for an injury in a construction accident can be difficult. In one case a worker was accidentally stabbed in the hand by another worker who suddenly stood up as he was peeling an orange. The injured worker suffered damage to nerves in his fingers which impaired the use of his hand.
The central question was whether a reasonable person would have foreseen that using a sharp knife to peel an orange would have involved a risk of injury to people nearby. The injured worker argued the coworker was negligent and his employer was vicariously liable.
The case was dismissed by the Queensland Supreme Court, with the judge saying if it had succeeded, the plaintiff would have received damages of $194,932. The Court of Appeal overturned that decision, awarding the injured worker $215,286. (Please see “Our employee was using a knife to peel an orange. How could we be negligent?” Which case won?)
If someone is injured in an accident due to the employer’s insufficient attention to construction site safety, such as a lack of guard rails, training or equipment, they may be able to make a claim for past and future lost income, ongoing medical costs and care, as well as pain and suffering.
Compensation for members of the public injured by faulty construction
Members of the public who are injured by faulty construction may also be able to claim under public liability laws.
Public liability claims cover a wide range of compensation for people who have experienced pain, suffering or financial loss due to an injury in a public or private place.
This would include injuries due to faulty building, such as balcony collapses, fencing or scaffolding falling on them, unmaintained windows or staircases and inadequate protection around a swimming pool.
Penalties for negligent employers under WHS laws
It is also important for employers to obtain legal advice on how best to meet requirements for workplace safety, as courts can impose fines up to $776,000 for negligence, and now even jail terms of up to 20 years and fines of $18 million for industrial manslaughter. (Please see Negligent bosses in NSW to face 20 years in jail for industrial manslaughter.)
Safe Work Australia provides information from a workplace health and safety perspective on employer duties when conducting construction business.
A company was recently fined $390,000 for negligence after a worker lost his leg in a forklift accident. (SafeWork NSW v Saveba Pty Ltd [2025] NSWDC 31.)
There was no decline in these sobering statistics the following year. According to Safe Work Australia, in 2023-24 the number of fatalities in the construction industry increased to 44 and the number of compensation claims rose to 17,609.
The ALA thanks Phil Griffin for this contribution.
This is an edited version of an article first published by Stacks Law Firm.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
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