If a worker is harmed, health and safety consultants can be held just as liable as the businesses they advise
A traumatic brain injury suffered by a Taranaki worker has led to the first sentencing of a consultancy under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
Safe Business Solutions (SBS) consultants gave paid health and safety advice to the employer of Grant Bowling, who was knocked unconscious by the bucket of an agricultural vehicle in August 2020. He suffered two brain bleeds, permanent loss of taste and smell, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
SBS had identified a “desperate need” for a traffic management plan and had undertaken to provide one, but hadn’t done so by the time of the collision six months later. A WorkSafe investigation found no steps were taken to manage the risks of uncontrolled traffic, aside from a small sign about speed at the entrance.
“In this case, the consultants offered active and ongoing management of health and safety risks, but did not deliver work they said they would,” says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Paul West.
“One-way systems, clear separation between vehicles and people, designated crossing points, and speed bumps are measures which could have avoided the incident and the very serious consequences Mr Bowling still lives with.”
WorkSafe’s role is to influence businesses and organisations to manage their health and safety risks to keep workers safe. If they do not manage these risks, we hold them responsible.
“Businesses paying for specialist health and safety advice need to know both they and their consultants have responsibilities under the law. You need the right consultant helping in the right way to get the right outcomes for workers,” says Paul West.
The Health and Safety Association (HASANZ) is the source of professionals who can give expert advice.
Read about the 2022 sentencing in this case
Read WorkSafe’s guidelines on managing workplace traffic
Find an advisor on the Health and Safety Association register
Background:
- Safe Business Solutions was sentenced at New Plymouth District Court on 16 August 2024.
- A fine of $70,000 was imposed, and reparations of $28,403 were agreed
- Safe Business Solutions was charged under sections 36(2), 48(1) and 48(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
- Between 16 July 2019 and 24 August 2020, at New Plymouth, being a PCBU having a duty to ensure so far as reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons, including Grant Bowling, was not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking, namely providing health and safety services, failed to comply with that duty, and that failure exposed any individual to a risk of death or serious injury.
- The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.
