Falls from heights is one of three common workplace hazards identified by SafeWork SA as part of its major awareness campaign – Safety at work is a serious job.

The message attached to the Falls sub-theme in the campaign is Check it’s fine before you climb.

How does SafeWork SA define a fall?

A fall can cause significant injury or death from any height. A fall occurs when a person is exposed to a risk of falling from one level to another.

Falls can happen in many ways, for example, falling off ladders, through fragile surfaces or penetrations, from unprotected elevated work areas or into service pits or trenches.

About half of all falls that resulted in a fatality involve heights of three metres or less, highlighting that even relatively low heights present significant risk.

• National data from Safe Work Australia shows there were 70 worker deaths in Australia from 2022 to 2024 as the result of falls.
• Falls accounted for about 13 per cent of all workplace fatalities for the period.
• Figures for 2025 are yet to be released.

How many falls notifications has SafeWork SA received and how many people have died or were injured?

What are the most common industries to report a fall to SafeWork SA?

• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Transport
• Healthcare
• Education

Fall hazards are often found where work is undertaken at heights such as:

• working on a roof
• installing or repairing building components
• using ladders for access or tasks, such as stacking shelves
• loading and unloading vehicles or trucks
• working on scaffolds or elevated work platforms.

Falls can also occur at ground level as a result of a slip or trip or falling into a hole such as a service pit or open hatch.

What compliance action has SafeWork SA taken around falls?

• 2025-26 Common injury mechanisms in construction campaign including managing the risk of falls
• 2024 Construction compliance campaigns in metropolitan and regional areas focussing on the most common industry safety concerns including slips, trips and falls
• 2023 Managing risk of falls in residential construction campaign which included 93 compliance audits identifying 266 safety breaches, resulting in 188 prohibition and 78 improvement notices.
• 2021 Safe Work Method Statement audit campaign focussing on managing risks of falls in residential construction.

What other action has SafeWork SA taken to manage falls?

• Changes to work health and safety regulations to reduce the height limitation of high-risk construction work from three metres to two metres has been approved.
• About half of all falls that resulted in a fatality involved heights of 3 metres or less.
• The change to the definition of high-risk construction work in the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 (SA) will align South Australia to the national model WHS regulations and other Australian states and territories.
• A transition date of 1 July 2026 will allow time for industry to be educated about the regulations before they come into effect.
• The changes have been made in consultation with key unions and industry associations.
• SafeWork SA has produced education resources to help employers and workers navigate the change smoothly.

What must a worker and an employer do to minimise the risk of harm from a fall?

Workers:

• workers must contribute to a safe workplace by taking responsibility for their own safety and the safety of people they work with
• follow all safe work instructions and procedures including the safe work method statement (SWMS)
• report safety issues
• use safety gear (PPE) where required.

Employer:

Employers, must manage the risk of falls, including when they occur:

• in or on an elevated workplace from which a person could fall
• in the vicinity of an opening through which a person could fall
• in the vicinity of an edge over which a person could fall
• on a surface through which a person could fall
• in any other place from which a person could fall.

Employers must also ensure they provide a safe means of access/egress to and from any area that involves the risk of a fall.

Examples of fall incidents

• A labourer was seriously injured when he fell 4.6m through a skylight at an aged care facility in southern Adelaide in March 2022. Two companies were fined a total $108,000 as a result of the incident.
• A shed company was fined $90,000 after a worker fell 3.61 metres from a shed roof onto a concrete floor while dismantling the shed in Victor Harbor in October 2021. The worker sustained serious spinal injuries, fractures to his ribs and shoulder and a punctured lung as a result of the fall.
• The owner and operator of an Adelaide hotel was fined $70,000 in 2019 after a contractor fell through the open trapdoors of a cellar in the hotel’s gaming room. The worker sustained a spleen laceration requiring immediate hospital treatment.

Resources

Codes of practice

• Managing the risks of falls at work - SafeWork SA
• Managing the risks of falls in housing construction - SafeWork Australia
• Managing the risks of falls at workplaces - SafeWork SA
• Elevating work platforms - SafeWork SA

Factsheets

• Falls factsheet

Further links:

• Slips, trips and falls
• Introduction to safety tutorial - slips, trips and falls
• Safety check quiz