The completion of an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) by Woods Glass has highlighted some of the benefits of the WorkSafe enforcement tool that serves as an alternative to prosecution In 2018 a Woods Glass worker suffered crushing injuries to their leg while operating a glass cutting machine. Continue →

WorkSafe has accepted an enforceable undertaking from building company Stevenson and Williams Limited and another from Bramwell Scaffolding Limited that will cost both companies almost $200,000 The victim (an employee of another PCBU, subcontracted to Bramwell Scaffolding Ltd who, in turn, were contracted by Stevenson and Williams Ltd) was working at height on a scaffold, when he fell approximately 3.5 metres to the ground, hitting his head and losing consciousness. Continue →

WorkSafe is reminding companies to ensure the contractors they employ are competent for the job at hand after an inexperienced forestry worker was hit by a falling tree Central Siteworks Limited (in liquidation) was sentenced at the Waitakere District Court for failing to ensure a worker was safe while felling trees. Continue →

A registered and licensed electrician was fatally injured while working on a water pump assembly The pump was on a dairy farm in a very small pump shed. Continue →

Too many New Zealanders continue to suffer injuries at work with manufacturing one of the highest risk sectors, says ACC, which is now helping manufacturing businesses to improve workplace safety with a workplace injury prevention subsidy On average five people die and 4,528 people are severely injured in the manufacturing industry each year. Continue →

A school board of trustees was sentenced at the Tokoroa District Court after a mobile scaffold toppled over, injuring a teacher and student Mobile scaffolding was erected in Forest View High School’s auditorium to assist with setting up lighting for plays and assemblies. Continue →

More people take chances at lower heights because they seem less of a risk, but these kinds of falls come with their own dangers It doesn’t take much height to lead to a fatal fall. Continue →

A North Island company must pay out over $500,000 after a workplace incident on a mobile elevating work platform left a worker permanently paralysed from the neck down In a reserved decision released by the Tauranga District Court, Supermac Group Resources Limited was fined $304,750 and ordered to pay reparation of $238,000 following the incident in May 2016. Continue →

NZCC Limited, a company that processes and supplies sausage casings, had to pay over $200,000 after a worker’s left hand was trapped between two rollers while they were operating a sausage casing machine with known safety issues WorkSafe’s investigation found that after a similar incident on a sausage casing machine two years earlier, NZCC Ltd engaged an engineer whose two proposed solutions proved to be ineffective. Continue →

A forestry incident which left a young trainee worker unconscious has drawn a sharp rebuke from the health and safety regulator, leading to a $25,000 fine Tree and Forest Limited appeared at the Nelson District Court yesterday and was fined $25,000 following a November 2017 incident in Motueka Valley in which the worker was struck by a felled tree and knocked unconscious. Continue →

Vehicles are the biggest cause of acute harm in any workplace, says WorkSafe, and a recent prosecution resulting in a $150,000 fine has highlighted the need for all companies to ensure their fleets are properly maintained In a reserved decision released by the Tauranga District Court , Sorensen Transport Limited was sentenced after one of its truck’s brakes failed and a worker was injured. Continue →

Homegrown Juice Co Limited was sentenced and fined $367,500 after a worker was fatally injured by a bottle filling machine imported from China that was not certified or compliant with New Zealand standards The worker was cleaning the bottle filling machine in June 2017 when her arm was drawn into the rotating equipment. Continue →

Alto Packaging Limited was fined $250,000 and ordered to pay reparation of $32,500 after a worker’s fingers were caught in a machine and amputated, despite WorkSafe having issued the company several notices in relation to machine guarding since 2014 Following the Octorber 2017 incident, WorkSafe’s investigation found the machine was not adequately safeguarded, which allowed the worker to access counter-rotating rollers in the machine. Continue →

4 Hippos Farm Limited and its director were sentenced after a worker received significant crush injuries and lacerations to his hand while using a wood splitter, who was then told to lie about the incident during WorkSafe’s investigation 4 Hippos Farm Limited was convicted on a Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) charge for failing to ensure the wood splitter he was using did not pose a risk of serious injury to the worker. Continue →

The work Downer has completed as part of its enforceable undertaking shows how the process works as a regulatory tool which benefits the victim, the workplace, the sector and the community, says WorkSafe Acting Chief Executive Mike Hargreaves On 12 May 2016, a worker providing services to Downer New Zealand Limited was working on a bridge where he was cutting bolts off the posts from below the bridge using a portable angle grinder. Continue →

When multiple companies are working on site there is a legal requirement that they consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other to ensure the health and safety of everyone. Continue →

Companies cannot be complacent about working from heights, says WorkSafe, after a worker died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall at CentrePort in Wellington CentrePort Limited was sentenced and fined $506,048 at the Wellington District Court today following the January 2017 incident at the company’s container assessment and repair facility. Continue →

Machine guarding failures in the meat processing industry are continuing to cause life-changing injuries to workers How it should be done The Alliance Group Limited was fined $332,000 and paid reparations late last year after an incident where an inexperienced worker’s hand was amputated in a piece of machinery in March 2017. Continue →