A scaffolding company has been fined $2 million over a collapse that killed a young apprentice.

Eighteen-year-old Christopher Cassaniti was working at a building site at Macquarie Park in Sydney in April 2019 when an overloaded perimeter facade scaffolding gave way, fatally trapping him under rubble and debris. 

Another man, Khaled Wehbe, was also trapped and suffered crush injuries.

Synergy Scaffolding Services pleaded guilty to one offence under the Work Health and Safety Act, with NSW District Court Judge Andrew Scotting finding workers were put in “significant peril”.

The scaffolding was found to have a load of nearly 18-tonnes, in excess of its maximum capacity.

He found that the collapse was due to a “culmination of events”, including the unauthorised removal of building ties.

“This case should serve as a telling reminder that unsafe acts on a building site can and do lead to catastrophic consequences,” he said. 

“Workers contemplating such unsafe acts should pause to consider what they might say to the people whose lives are torn apart by the possible consequences of their actions.”

He fined the company $2 million, which included a 10 per cent reduction for the guilty plea.

Synergy Scaffolding Services, which was engaged to design, erect and maintain the scaffolding by principal contractor GN Residential Construction, was fined $900,000 in 2020.

Judge Scotting found the scaffolding was constructed without vertical bracing, in breach of its own design and the Australian Standard. Additionally, he noted there had been a history of the unauthorised removal of building ties and alteration to the scaffolding.

The company knew the scaffolding was “grossly overloaded”, the judge said.

“The overloading of the scaffold, the lack of vertical bracing, the removal of the ties and the removal of the transoms made the likelihood of the risk occurring so high that it was almost certain,” he said.