Safety practices out of touch with the reality of the job had overlooked an obvious risk which claimed a worker’s life, a WorkSafe investigation finds Wesley Tomich was cleaning around a conveyor belt as it was still operational at Ballance Agri-Nutrients in Mt Maunganui in July 2023. Continue →

A forestry subcontractor was failed by poor risk management from the two businesses above him, both of which have been sentenced for their inaction 39-year-old Misha Tremel was killed while manually felling trees on a small block at Clevedon in June 2022. Continue →

On the day of his seventeenth birthday, Harrison Gilbert was struck in the face by an untethered 412-kilogram steel beam being manoeuvred by a crane which WorkSafe says never should have been used Lakeland Steel Limited has been sentenced and ordered to pay nearly $300,000 following the incident. Continue →

Three companies have failed to prioritise safety near overhead electric lines and were sentenced late last year for incidents that killed or injured workers In the most severe case a labourer, Sean Clear, was electrocuted while working on a farm near Whakapapa Village in February 2023. Continue →

WorkSafe is looking into the death of a 37-year-old who fell from a scissor lift in Auckland just after Christmas The incident occurred on 28 December 2024 and the worker died days later in hospital. Continue →

WorkSafe is investigating a trench collapse at an Auckland worksite which has left one seriously injured and another with moderate injuries The incident took place on 25 October in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank on Rutherford Terrace. Continue →

A substandard roller door installation has caught up with an Auckland business which has had to pay out more than $200,000 A powered roller grille door fell from its fixings and killed pastor Helen Verry at Church Unlimited in Glendene in January 2022. Continue →

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. Continue →

A tragic start to this year’s lambing and calving season has prompted WorkSafe to issue a warning to rural workers to refocus on the risks around quad bikes WorkSafe is investigating all four fatalities, the first of which occurred on 18 July in Wairarapa. Continue →

After a worker in the kiwifruit industry was traumatically injured, WorkSafe has accepted a commitment from his employer to an enforceable undertaking centered around using Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI technology to sense pedestrians around forklifts is the centrepiece of a new safety commitment WorkSafe has accepted from a major player in the kiwifruit industry. Continue →

Courts have imposed more than half a million dollars in penalties since mid-March, in cases where workers have lost fingers on machinery that wasn’t kept safe by businesses “Businesses must manage their risks to keep workers safe. Continue →

WorkSafe New Zealand says urgent action is needed by the trades to take better care of apprentices, after the second court sentencing this year for health and safety failures resulting in a trainee’s death Josh Masters was fixing the hydraulics on a log loader when the vehicle’s boom fell and crushed him at Balmoral Forest in North Canterbury in January 2022. Continue →

A forklift brake failure which resulted in a broken back and punctured lung could have been avoided if the business had done a better job at keeping the vehicle maintained, WorkSafe says The $240,000 fine handed down to Refrigafreighters Limited for an incident in September 2022 is a wake-up call to all businesses using forklifts, says Casey Broad, WorkSafe’s National Manager Investigations. Continue →

An electrical worker has been prosecuted for failing to test prescribed electrical work he had completed that ultimately resulted in a fatality The electrical worker was prosecuted by WorkSafe – Energy Safety under s163C of the Electricity Act 1992 and sentenced in the Nelson District Court to eight months home detention and ordered to pay $150k in reparation. Continue →

Trade Depot has been ordered to pay out almost $500,000 after it was found no plan was in place to keep pedestrians and moving vehicles separate The customer was waiting to collect whiteware from the customer collections area outside Trade Depot in Onehunga, when she was struck by a forklift in August 2022. Continue →

After a New Zealand Police employee was critically injured in a high-speed collision, WorkSafe has accepted an enforceable undertaking which will see the organisation take steps to improve safety WorkSafe has accepted a binding commitment from the New Zealand Police to improve safety for Traffic Camera Operators (TCO), after one was critically injured in a high-speed collision on Auckland’s North Shore. Continue →

WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on the construction sector to “up its game” after a teenager was killed just four months into his apprenticeship Ethan Perham-Turner was killed when timber framing weighing 350 kilograms fell on him at a residential building site in Ōmokoroa in March 2022. Continue →

When there is no obvious safe way to work, it’s best to stop, reassess, and involve experts to develop a new approach – rather than attempting to adapt things on the fly, says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Danielle Henry The death of a 21-year-old in the construction sector shows how easily stopgap measures can endanger workers. Continue →

Extremely poor on-site safety has been deemed the cause of an incident which nearly buried a worker alive, leaving him injured both physically and mentally Two workers were on a job at a farm near Te Kuiti in February 2021. Continue →

A workplace has been fined $7,000 after allowing an underage driver to get behind the wheel of an unsafe forklift whilst a young boy was left unsupervised When childcare fell through, the boy was taken to the orchard in January 2022 by his grandparents who worked there. Continue →