An employer has been fined and sentenced to 60 hours community work for failing to keep a worker safe after he was seriously injured while trimming tree branches next to a powerline In October 2016 a casual worker hired by Bradford John Dibble was trimming branches with an electric saw when a branch fell onto a powerline. Continue →

Two companies have been heavily fined after a worker suffered a significant hand injury while operating a machine used to cut firewood Davies Tree Service Limited employed the worker and MMD Engineering Limited manufactured the machine and both were sentenced at the Christchurch District Court following the June 2017 incident. Continue →

A truck driver was left with a skull fracture and significant head injuries after a farmer’s stock loading ramp fell on him when its winch system failed, something an automatic brake winch system would have prevented WorkSafe says the incident is a reminder that all stock loading ramps should be fitted with an automatic brake winch system to prevent unwinding. Continue →

After a worker’s arm was crushed while removing a decommissioned x-ray machine at Dunedin Hospital, Southern District Health Board and Fire and Mech Contracting Limited were fined heavily for failing to provide  the manufacturer’s instructions The incident occurred in May 2017 when Fire and Mech Contracting Limited asked a worker assisting with removal of the x-ray to help cut a wire rope to clear away the machine. Continue →

Structural steelwork company, Pegasus Engineering Limited, was sentenced at the Christchurch District Court after a heavy steel beam fatally injured a worker The fatal incident took place in June 2017 in Rolleston when a worker was moving steel beams from work trolleys using a crane. Continue →

WorkSafe is urging employers to mitigate any risks before carrying out electrical work, after a worker was left with serious electrical burns to his hands In a decision released by the Invercargill District Court this week, Wallace Murray Electrical Limited was fined $150,000 following the incident, which took place while the worker was replacing a switchboard in October 2017. Continue →

PBT Transport Limited was fined $250,000 following an incident in September 2016 where a worker sustained back injuries, after the freight cage he was working in fell three metres from forklift tines Two similar incidents had occurred at other PBT Transport sites and WorkSafe says PBT Transport should have used these incidents to significantly improve their processes. Continue →

Ten people in the transport, postal and warehousing sector have died at work in the past two years, with transport company Altranz (2008) Ltd being sentenced after an 18 year old worker was fatally injured In June 2017, the worker was assisting in the unloading of shipping containers from a truck when he was crushed by the swinglift, a machine designed for lifting containers on and off the truck. Continue →

A food manufacturing company was sentenced at the Christchurch District Court after a worker had their thumb severed while cleaning a machine used to blend products Wimpex Limited was fined $240,000 following a WorkSafe investigation, which found Wimpex Limited, did not have adequate guarding in place. Continue →

Sometimes the biggest threat to people in a head-on crash is all the things that are behind them and cargo barriers are a good way of preventing an already bad situation from getting much worse A collision in Hamilton in early February between two vans saw Waikato police warning tradies that unsecured tools and cargo can become painful, if not deadly missiles, in an accident. Continue →

A North Island wood processing company with 20 previous health and safety convictions over the last two decades has landed in front of the courts yet again, following an incident which saw a worker suffer serious steam burns In July 2017 a worker was replacing a heat probe inside of an enclosed Triboard manufacturing press, when the press was switched on, engulfing him in hot steam. Continue →

Toilet paper manufacturer Cottonsoft Ltd received a sentencing decision in the Manukau District Court after a worker was hurt on inadequately guarded machinery The sentencing followed a January 2017 incident where the worker sustained crush injuries, degloving and lacerations after his arms were caught in rollers. Continue →

Two similar health and safety failings within three months have cost Rotorua timber company Claymark Limited over $680,000 in fines, reparations and costs WorkSafe says that one serious injury on a company’s watch is bad enough, but that a second in close succession shows an unacceptable approach to worker safety. Continue →

WorkSafe New Zealand has accepted an enforceable undertaking from Trojan Holdings Limited The undertaking follows an incident at the Cromwell Transfer Station in June 2017 where a worker fell into the waste hopper and sustained serious injuries. Continue →

Failure to ensure the safety of critical equipment has left one worker dead and another with multiple injuries in two separate incidents An electrical engineering firm was fined $332,060 after a worker harnessed to the top of a 30-metre high temporary transmission tower was injured when it fell to the ground leaving him with multiple injuries. Continue →

Summer is a busy time on the farm, but it’s also among the most hazardous periods for accidents with three fatalities and nearly 550 farmers suffering notable injuries last summer Almost 550 farmers suffered injuries serious enough for them to take at least a week off work over the last summer (December 2017 – February 2018) while there were three fatalities on farms. Continue →

WorkSafe has accepted an enforceable undertaking from engineering and infrastructure company Opus International Consultants Limited following a scaffolding collapse last year The enforceable undertaking was granted following an incident in February 2017, when scaffolding collapsed underneath Auckland’s Panmure Bridge and six workers fell into the water below them. Continue →

Identifying a workplace risk but not following up to ensure it is controlled is bad health and safety business practice according to WorkSafe The comment follows the sentencing of Agility Building Solutions Limited in the Christchurch District Court after a painter was injured in the construction company’s own workplace. Continue →

New Zealand has clearly defined standards for how machinery should be guarded, and WorkSafe says they’re still not being met by too many companies “Too many workers are being seriously injured as a result of substandard guarding,” says WorkSafe’s Head of Specialist Interventions Simon Humphries. Continue →

Unqualified and unsafe asbestos removal has landed a Christchurch builder in the Christchurch District Court Richard John Knight was unlicensed for an asbestos demolition job carried out on a Riccarton building in February 2017. Continue →