Engineering firm must pay $80,000 for man’s fall
A Christchurch engineering company must pay $80,000 for a fall a contract worker had on a building site when his safety harness was not properly secured.
The Christchurch District Court was told that the harness was “not fit for purpose” and the method of securing the lanyard was inadequate before the 28-year-old man’s 4m fall.
Pegasus Engineering Limited had pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the contract worker was not harmed while working on its construction site at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.
Judge Tony Couch fined the company $45,000 and ordered a further $35,000 payment to the man, an Indian national, as emotional harm reparations.
The company has already been topping up his earnings-related ACC payments, and senior management apologised to him at a restorative justice meeting ahead of the sentencing.
Prosecutor from Worksafe New Zealand Sarah Backhouse told the court there had been a lack of planning and task analysis, and no “induction” for the worker for the work he was tasked to do when he had the fall.
Defence counsel Garth Galloway said it had not been a systemic failure at the company, but the accident resulted from a “series of failures which were to a large extent limited to this event”. Judge Couch accepted that submission.
The accident happened on August 29, 2014, when the man was working as a contracted welder at the building site. When he finished his welding, he was assigned to assist placing and fastening steel plates on a 4m high walkway in conjunction with other workers.
The workers were using individual harnesses rather than having a safety net in case of falls.
Judge Couch said the foreman saw that the man was working at height without the safety harness being properly secure. He repeatedly gave him directions about it, but did not stop work until the safety issue was fixed.
When the man fell 4m, he broke his wrists, broke his arm, broke his cheek bone, cut his chin, and had extensive bleeding from the nose. He later reported injuries to his back and knees, and a broken jaw. He was in hospital four weeks and had operations to insert and later remove metal plates and pins.
The man had been married just before he came to New Zealand and his wife was still in India at the time. He was supporting his wider family and had been concerned about uncertainties within the family about his ability to earn money after the accident. He had lost confidence and felt humiliated and ashamed. He has now returned to work.
Judge Couch reduced the fine for the company’s co-operation, the steps it had taken, its guilty plea, and its genuine remorse and support for injured man.
Category: News
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