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Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) Stories - Page 5

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Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) stories

Trades and construction protocols at Alert Level 4
Supply Chain

Trades and construction protocols at Alert Level 4

Only essential building work may continue, with contractors required to follow strict COVID-19 controls or defer jobs until restrictions ease.

By Staff Writer • 6 min read • Wed, 18th Aug 2021
Forestry fatality was preventable – so why did it happen?
Risk & Compliance

Forestry fatality was preventable – so why did it happen?

Two forestry firms have been fined more than GBP £600,000 after a worker was struck and killed in a preventable logging accident on the East Coast.

By Michael Curreen • 4 min read • Wed, 21st Jul 2021
Man racks up fines for obstructing WorkSafe inspections
Risk & Compliance

Man racks up fines for obstructing WorkSafe inspections

A logging operator has been fined NZD $12,000 after blocking inspectors from a Wairarapa site and missing a required WorkSafe interview.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Thu, 8th Jul 2021
Man shot in heart by nail after exclusion zone failure
Health and Safety

Man shot in heart by nail after exclusion zone failure

A South Auckland mattress maker has been fined NZD $250,000 after a nail ricocheted into a worker's heart, exposing lax safety controls.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Wed, 30th Jun 2021
Crushed leg incident costs company $370k
Risk & Compliance

Crushed leg incident costs company $370k

Outdated crane procedures left a Hawke’s Bay steel cutter facing GBP £370,000 in fines, reparations and costs after a worker lost a leg.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Thu, 27th May 2021
New classification system for hazardous substances
Risk & Compliance

New classification system for hazardous substances

Importers and manufacturers face four years to relabel chemicals as New Zealand shifts hazardous substances rules to the UN-backed GHS.

By Michael Curreen • 4 min read • Wed, 5th May 2021
Experience no substitute for risk management
Risk & Compliance

Experience no substitute for risk management

A flooring firm has been fined USD $60,000 after a worker died using solvent-based adhesive without proper risk checks or ventilation.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Thu, 29th Apr 2021
Worker falls to his death after wire rope snaps
Risk & Compliance

Worker falls to his death after wire rope snaps

A company’s ignored maintenance warnings ended in a fatal three-metre fall and a GBP £279,000 fine for unsafe trailer edge protection.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Wed, 24th Mar 2021
Customer killed at vehicle testing site
Risk & Compliance

Customer killed at vehicle testing site

A court has ordered VINZ to pay more than GBP £500,000 after a customer was struck by a vehicle at its Hamilton testing site and later died.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Wed, 24th Feb 2021
Chemical burns after businesses fail to co-ordinate
Risk & Compliance

Chemical burns after businesses fail to co-ordinate

Eight workers suffered chemical burns after poor oversight of Mycoplasma bovis clean-up left sodium hydroxide seeping into gloves.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Wed, 17th Feb 2021
Ports of Auckland fined $540k after fatality
Risk & Compliance

Ports of Auckland fined $540k after fatality

WorkSafe said repeated tip alarm warnings went unheeded before a straddle carrier overturned, killing a stevedore in 2018.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Sun, 7th Feb 2021
Serious injuries after fall from unsafe scaffold
Risk & Compliance

Serious injuries after fall from unsafe scaffold

A worker’s lack of scaffold experience left him with life-changing injuries after being asked to rebuild the platform, a court heard.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Mon, 25th Jan 2021
Business owner fined for obstructing WorkSafe inspector
Agricultural Technology

Business owner fined for obstructing WorkSafe inspector

A Manawatu dairy farmer has been ordered to pay a fine after repeatedly blocking inspectors, despite WorkSafe's warning that cooperation is mandatory.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Thu, 21st Jan 2021
Seatbelt and helmet could have saved life
Risk & Compliance

Seatbelt and helmet could have saved life

A farm's unsafe side-by-side left a WOOFer dead after she was thrown from the vehicle in a 13-metre fall, WorkSafe says.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Thu, 14th Jan 2021
Workplace Health and Safety: 2020 in review
Risk & Compliance

Workplace Health and Safety: 2020 in review

COVID-19 has accelerated remote-working and training risks as New Zealand’s workplace safety progress stalls and serious injuries rise.

By Michael Curreen • 6 min read • Wed, 13th Jan 2021
Leg crushed by unguarded machinery
Risk & Compliance

Leg crushed by unguarded machinery

The Auckland firm was fined USD $220,000 after a worker’s leg was amputated when unguarded machinery trapped him in a steel beam drill.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Wed, 9th Dec 2020
Fatal oversight costs company $375k
Risk & Compliance

Fatal oversight costs company $375k

Lax hazard checks before manual tree felling led to a worker’s death, with Sullivan Contractors fined and ordered to pay GBP £365,225 in reparations.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Thu, 3rd Dec 2020
Company fined $450k after removing machine guarding
Risk & Compliance

Company fined $450k after removing machine guarding

A worker suffered severe arm injuries after a tyre shredder was used without guarding, prompting a GBP £450,000 penalty and reparation.

By Michael Curreen • 3 min read • Wed, 25th Nov 2020
$15k fine for unlicensed asbestos removal
Law

$15k fine for unlicensed asbestos removal

WorkSafe said workers were exposed to dangerous fibres after friable asbestos was stripped from a Queenstown property without a licence or safety plan.

By Michael Curreen • 2 min read • Tue, 17th Nov 2020