Lifestyle Homes (ACT) pleaded guilty in the ACT Industrial Court earlier this year to six charges arising from a random WorkSafe ACT inspection of the 63-unit site Opus in October 2017.

The inspector found a worker at the Coombs site incorrectly performing work for a mobile crane, a role that required a high-risk licence which the worker did not hold.

The inspector also found non-compliant electrical boards, incorrect signage, the site littered with materials and waste, incomplete and non-compliant scaffolding and a lack of barriers to elevated edges.

Magistrate Glenn Theakston said that before the inspection the company had on paper a range of appropriate work, health and safety processes, and had hired a work, health and safety manager.

But the processes did not translate into practices that avoided the breaches, he said.

"The WorkSafe inspection uncovered six separate breaches of the regulations, some of which had some potential to cause injury, and others that had a high potential to cause injury," he said.

"In particular, the breaches in relation to the scaffolding, namely the risks of workers and objects falling, were particularly high in the circumstances.

"Those breaches exposed workers to immediate and proximate risk of very serious injury or death, and were risks that would have been obvious to an observer and had been brought to the notice of the defendant.

"They were also numerous in number. They were known risks, with the likelihood of manifestation and the seriousness of the consequences both being high."

Mr Theakston fined the company a total of $25,000 for the more serious breaches, noting in part that the company had taken steps since the breaches.

For the less serious offences, of signage, the electrical board, and maintaining the work site, Mr Theakston did not record a conviction and dismissed the charge.

In a press release on Wednesday, ACT work safety commissioner Greg Jones said the case sent a message to the industry that WorkSafe ACT will take action in cases of serious safety issues.

“Such non-compliance will not be tolerated by WorkSafe ACT and strong regulatory action will be taken where appropriate and proportionate, including court action,” he said.

“It was fortunate that the breaches were detected as part of WorkSafe’s proactive inspection activity before someone was seriously hurt or killed.

"WorkSafe ACT will continue to focus on falls from heights, electrical issues as well as keeping our young workers safe.

“My message to industry is to make safety a priority not only in the lead up to the end of the year but also in 2019 – as WorkSafe inspectors will be on the ground holding those employers flouting safety to account.”