A SOLAR installation company has been hit with a huge fine for unsafe rooftop installations at sites in Patterson Lakes, Point Cook, Warrnambool, and Vermont.
Aus Renewable Development Group Pty Ltd was fined $100,000 last month. It received a $60,000 fine for five counts of failing to ensure a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health; $30,000 for three counts of failing to provide or maintain a safe workplace; and $10,000 for two counts of failing to produce information and documents.
A Workplace statement read that the charges related to incidents across 2024. “In February 2024, two workers were observed on the roof of a Patterson Lakes property without fall protection equipment working at heights of between 2.6 and 5.2 metres,” WorkSafe said.
WorkSafe chief health and safety officer Sam Jenkin said “strong enforcement action was required to deter employers from ignoring their obligations to keep workers safe.”
“It is clear that this employer repeatedly ignored their health and safety obligations regarding working at height and put their workers lives’ at risk, despite multiple warnings,” Mr Jenkin said. “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and this significant penalty sends a clear message that WorkSafe will not tolerate duty holders who fail to control the risk of falls – whether an incident happens or not.”
The company was sentenced in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on Friday 28 August.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 16 September 2026