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A Perth court has been shown the shocking moment a glass roof collapsed, killing the man who was installing it, leading to criminal charges against the company responsible.
Apprentice glazier Jonathan Hartshorn, 23, suffered fatal injuries at Curtin University’s Bentley campus in October 2020 after falling 20 metres from a partly constructed, five-storey glass roof.
Workmate Rikki Issitt was catastrophically injured during the same incident, on Wednesday telling the Perth Magistrates Court that his life had been irrevocably changed as a result.
Steel fabrication company Elsdon was held responsible for the workplace incident after it was determined their staff had inadequate welding qualifications that led to poorly created steel trusses that were designed to hold the glass in place.
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But it has taken six years for justice to be served, the company only pleading guilty to the charge of failing to ensure the safety or health of a person who is not an employee on Wednesday.
A second charge of failing to provide safe plant and caused death as a result was dropped.
The court heard Elsdon was contracted to create the steel structure of the university’s new school of design, which included an atrium-style glass ceiling.
The trusses were so large they had to be created off-site in three sections before being transported to the Bentley building. But extensive inspections later showed that welding of the trusses was “incomplete” and were inadequately tested before installation.
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“No qualified welding supervisor supervised this part of the work,” prosecutors told the court on Wednesday.
“[Another employee] was the only person qualified to perform this function, and he did not perform it on these welds.”
At 12.30pm on October 13, 2020, as 23-year-old apprentice Hartshorn and Issitt, then 26, were working on top of the roof it collapsed, dropping them 20 metres to the ground onto a pile of glass and metal.
That fatal moment was replayed to the court on Wednesday in front of Hartshorn’s devastated mother and partner who told the court how his death had impacted their lives.
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“Jonnie should be here, fulfilling his dreams, living the sweet life that he wanted,” his mother Susan Chappell said.
“Instead his future was torn from underneath him along with mine. Now left with the wreckage.”
Issitt also addressed the court and spoke about the moment he fell through the roof and thought he was going to die.
“I looked up and saw the ceiling hanging above me,” he said.
Issitt suffered significant injuries including breaks to both arms and legs, a fracture spine and broken pelvis.
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He has been unable to work since.
“The emotional consequences have been devastating,” he said, before adding that he had suffered survivors guilt following the death of Hartshorn.
Elsdon’s lawyer told the court the company’s directors “did not know the workshop was failing – it should have known.”
“That is why it has pleaded guilty,” he said.
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“The company had a system, but it did not bring it to bear on these welds on this occasion. That is a failure.”
Elsdon’s lawyer said the cost to remedy the situation “was small and that is aggravating” adding that the company did not “shy away from that”.
The company will be sentenced on October 8.
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Rebecca Peppiatt is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in crime and courts.Connect via email.AdvertisementAdvertisement