MY PRESS RELEASE:
With the death of a 9 year old boy in Arizona, now is the time for Australians to re-evaluate the idea of fencing all construction sites.

The boy, Joseph Rivera, was buried alive by 400 Kilograms of dirt while digging inside a large trench with two friends on an unfenced building site, once a golf course, which was used by local children as a playground. "A construction site is not a playground," a city official said. "Being in a trench or on a construction site is inherently dangerous."

Mr Peter King, a Victorian campaigner for building site fencing, says; “There is no Australia wide or statewide requirement to fence a home construction site. It is basically left up to the builder but some councils have local laws to enforce it and some councils allow builders to pretty much do what they like.”

Monash Council has a local law requiring perimeter fencing around all sites. Interestingly, when asked, the council will emphasize the litter control aspect of its policy rather than the safety aspect. They strictly enforce the erection of a fence but many sites are never secured and locked and allow easy entry to the site. Mr King says, “A fence is better than no fence at all. It sends a clear message that this is a restricted area.”

Boroondara Council has no local laws for perimeter fencing. It however has nine out of ten sites fenced. How? It appears that the private building surveyors, who inspect buildings, know that Boroondara Council is very strict and will automatically recommend that all their sites be fenced. Mr King says, “In my experience, Boroondara’s officers take any complaint about a building site very seriously and will investigate and take action immediately. This council, in my opinion, really believes that it has a duty of care to its residents.” Boroondara Council has now (April 2007) made it compulsary for all building sites to have fencing! NOTE, this turned out to be WRONG! After complaining about an open commercial site with 5m deep excavations (pictures available), Boroondara have told me that they have little or no control over building sites now as the Victorian State Government controls this through Worksafe (who, in my experience, are under-manned and useless).

At the other end of the scale is Whitehorse Council where nine out of ten sites are unfenced. Observations show that only sites on main roads are fenced and occasionally a site where the builder isn’t prepared to take the risk. Mr King says, of Whitehorse, “As long as a builder has $10 million in liability insurance they, it seems, can do whatever they like. It doesn’t seem to matter whether a building site is across the road from a school or that local children regularly play in front of the site, Whitehorse council will not lift a finger!”

UPDATE (April 2007), Whitehorse Council still refuses to do anything about fencing building sites and is slow to even ensure that when fencing is used ... that it is safe! I contacted the council about a building site opposite a primary school that had fencing on the roadway, after one week the fence was still there, so I went to check how secure it was and it collapsed on top of me and my dog! Honestly this fence would have only required a child to climb it and it would have collapsed! I have since tested other fences and found one that could be tipped over using ONE FINGER! Builders! Please check the security and strength of your fences because if these fences fall and cause injury or death you WILL be liable! Both councils such as Whitehorse and Worksafe Victoria need to pull their fingers out and ensure builders not only have fences but that these fences are secure and safe! Pictures will be posted here soon.

Though the magic of the internet, Mr King’s child safety webpage has attracted the attention of other campaigners interstate who are making some progress. Mr King believes that once one state imposes fencing regulations other states will follow.

See: http://www.osh.dol.govt.nz/news/press/2004/PR041104.shtml

This comment was made by NZ OSH:

…the accident should remind both parents and builders of the dangers construction sites posed for children. Builders needed to be especially vigilant when working in a residential area, or near where children congregated, he said. "We would encourage every builder to lock up building materials at the end of the day, and do their very best to keep construction sites secure."

Another incident (in 2004) occurred in Sungei Siput, Malaysia (a place that I travel to frequently). On a construction site a large boulder was removed but the hole remained. Water filled the hole (believe me, it rains heavily there) and a boy decided to use it as a swimming hole and drowned!

And another - 11 year old killed in China: click here.

Several small boys climbed through a gap in a fence around a construction site after the builders went home. Once inside, they played in and around partly constructed buildings, finding a stack of large concrete pipes to crawl through. As one boy climbed out, he stumbled and fell against a pipe causing it to move slightly. The whole stack then rolled, crushing one of the boys, who later died in hospital from his injuries. From www.worksafe.vic.gov.au

Please let others know about my website - www.sitesafe.net.au ... Tim Wilkinson, Willprotect Pty Ltd.

'I must agree with your web sites criticism of safety standards by Metricon homes. Our house is currently being built by Metricon and in its final stages. I note they had security fencing that once installed was NEVER secured and then a ladder chained in place such that any child walking onto the property had access to it and thereby the upper floor. Similarly all the scaffolding during construction was completely open throughout. When I pointed out the young boy over the road and the obvious temptation this would present the building supervisor agreed, but did absolutely nothing to secure the block or to remove the ladder until stairs were installed some months later. These are the same people that are telling me I cannot do any development on the site whilst their work is underway because of the OHS reasons. Their whole approach seems both hypocritical and arrogant.' ... Greg, Victoria.