A construction company’s fine has been doubled to $50,000 after WorkSafe Victoria successfully appealed an initial penalty following a dangerous hoarding collapse in Geelong’s CBD.
E.J. Lyons & Sons Pty Ltd, trading as Lyons Construction, was originally fined $25,000 without conviction in May 2025 after pleading guilty to failing to ensure public safety. However, following WorkSafe’s appeal, the Geelong County Court set aside the original sentence and imposed a $50,000 fine with conviction, plus $6,289 in costs.
The incident occurred in December 2022 during preparation for the construction industry’s end-of-year shutdown. A 20-metre long, 3.5-metre high section of hoarding collapsed, damaging three parked vehicles and narrowly missing a pedestrian.
The court heard that Lyons Construction, as principal contractor for the multi-level construction project, had ignored repeated safety warnings from subcontractors over more than a year.
In December 2021, scaffolders had raised concerns when hoarding was attached to scaffolding that wasn’t designed to support it. Despite this warning, the hoarding remained in place for approximately one year.
The situation became critical when scaffolding was removed in December 2022, leaving the hoarding unsecured and cantilevering upward from its base. Subcontractors again warned about the dangerous configuration, but their concerns were ignored.
WorkSafe’s investigation revealed multiple safety failures, including the company’s failure to ensure the hoarding was designed by a qualified structural engineer, installed according to engineering specifications, and remained stable at all times.
The court found it was reasonably practicable for Lyons Construction to implement several safety measures, including having the hoarding designed by a qualified structural engineer to withstand wind forces, constructed as a self-supporting system, and manufactured according to engineering computations.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin emphasized the company’s failure to meet its duty of care obligations.
“There are numerous safety measures that regulate the design and building of hoarding on construction sites to control the obvious risk of serious injury or death from incidents like this,” Mr Jenkin said.
“People should be able to walk past a construction site and trust that it is up to legal standards and not posing a risk to their health and safety.”
The case highlights the importance of heeding safety warnings from subcontractors and the serious consequences of ignoring engineering and safety requirements on construction sites.
