More than $5 million has been ploughed into WorkSafe's investigation of the Whakaari eruption that killed 22 people.
Between December 2019 and December 2020, WorkSafe spent more than $5.5m investigating the events leading up to the fatal eruption, which has seen 13 parties appear in court facing charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
WorkSafe spent close to $2m on external legal fees, close to $400,000 renting offices in Whakatāne, close to $1.6m on staff wages, $900,000 on consultants, $159,000 on flights, $78,500 on rental vehicles, $202,000 on accommodation, 172,000 on meals and $89,000 on other costs.
WorkSafe general manager business performance, finance and modernisation Allan Frost said the investigation was the most comprehensive and complex that WorkSafe had undertaken.