A company has been ordered to pay more than $500,000 after a worker was paralysed following an accident on equipment he wasn't trained to use.
In May 2016 the man was working on a construction site in Kerikeri for Supermac Group Resources Limited. He was unloading a boom lift (similar to a cherry picker) from a transporter when it slipped off, catapulting the man into the air.
His injuries have left him permanently paralysed from the neck down.
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The worker had not been trained to use the boom lift, nor was he wearing a restraining harness at the time, failing two requirements of the official guidelines for usage of mobile elevating work platforms.
In a reserved decision released by the Tauranga District Court on Wednesday, Supermac Group was fined $304,750 for failing to ensure the health and safety of its workers.
It was also ordered to pay the man reparations of $100,000, and an additional $138,000 for consequential loss.
WorkSafe’s Chief Inspector Specialist Interventions Hayden Mander says too many New Zealand workers are being injured because employers are ignoring basic safety procedures and requirements.
"Risks involved in using machinery are very easy to identify, and too many businesses are failing in their duty to keep their workers safe by not putting controls in place to manage the risks," he says.
"In this case, the business should have trained the worker before he was allowed onto the machine, and should have ensured that a safety harness was available and worn.
"These are easy things to do. Supermac's failure to do them has left a worker paralysed from the chest down and facing the future knowing he will never be able to walk again."
Newshub.
