Victorian WorkCover Authority v Granted Access Pty Ltd & Ors

[2026] VSC 337

Supreme Court of Victoria

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

An expert scaffolding company owes a duty not only to erect scaffolding components correctly but also to make reasonable enquiries of the engaging contractor about the nature and weight of work to be performed on the scaffold, so as to ensure the scaffold is erected to an appropriate duty rating; failure to make such enquiries may ground liability even where the contractor did not specify a particular scaffold grade.
Where a scaffold erector contends that corrosion on hired components caused a coupler to give a false impression of tightness, the onus is not discharged by post-incident assertions in internal reports where contemporaneous communications cast doubt on their reliability and the erector had possession of the failed component but did not preserve or properly document its condition.
A labour hire employer's liability for a workplace injury is not confined to its non-delegable duty; an independent failure to inspect the worksite or review the safe work method statement before deploying a worker can itself constitute a breach of the duty of care, though the apportionment attributable to that breach may be small where the employer had no real control over scaffold construction or work practices.