Colleagues, friends and family are paying tribute to Michael Noche who died at a big construction site in Auckland. Photo / supplied
Colleagues, friends and family are paying tribute to Michael Noche who died at a big construction site in Auckland. Photo / supplied
A hard worker who set an example to others around him is how a Filippino scaffold worker Michael Noche is being remembered after dying at a big Auckland building site last week.
Noche had been working at the Summerfield St Johns retirement village project on Friday.
Mikee Santos, a Union Network of Migrants co-ordinator, said the husband and father’s family was overseas but had been planning to settle here when Noche fell six to seven levels at the site.
One colleague acknowledged Noche’s work ethic on a social media post: “Rest in peace Michael, it was a privilege to work with you for the past few years. You were truly one of the hardest workers we had, setting an example for the other guys. Condolences to those you have left behind, it won’t be the same here without you.”
Another tribute described Noche as a good father while another said what happened to the immigrant was “shocking”.
NZX-listed Summerset Group acknowledged the tragedy, chief executive Scott Scoullar saying the company was cooperating fully with the police and other authorities “and we will do everything we can to make sure something like this never happens again”.
Santos said a Givealittle page had been established called ‘Burial assistance for Michael Noche’.
“It came as a shock to all of us when we heard about Michael’s demise. It was just a normal day and Michael was doing his daily routine as a scaffolder at the site where he was assigned to when suddenly the scaffolds collapsed, and he fell,” the page said.
However, the exact cause of Noche’s death is yet to be determined.
A spokesperson for Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa WorkSafe said yesterday it had opened an investigation “but cannot make any further comment while the investigation is under way”.
Craig Blaikie, a director of Marin Construction, said: “We have had a tragic accident on site on Friday. We have reached out to Michael’s family and friends offering our condolences and are looking for ways of support. The accident is under investigation.”
Michael Noche died on Friday. Photo / Facebook
Marin says it was formed in 1999 and since then has been involved in numerous concrete, formwork and structural projects. It is subcontracted to do work at the huge new Summerset St Johns, 188 St Johns Rd.
In 2019, Summerset won Environment Court resource consent for the project, to be home to around 400 residents in different sorts of living arrangements ranging from independent living and serviced apartments to hospital beds and a memory care centre for those with dementia.
The Summerset St Johns project in Auckland. Photo / supplied
Summerset has 33 villages throughout New Zealand designed for those aged 70 and above. It has total assets of $5.4b, delivered 223 new units in the first half of the 2022 financial year is continuing to buy new sites in this country and in Australia. Around 7100 people live in Summerset villages, run by 2300 staff.
At St Johns, the company is building 11 villas, 225 apartments, 64 serviced apartments, and 41 care suites, bringing its total number of beds and units on the site to 341. The value of the property appeared as $44.8m in its latest accounts.
Santos said yesterday: “The family’s years of planning to come to New Zealand have now been shattered - the devastation. They planned to start a new life here but this tragedy means the loss of a father and husband and their dream of coming to this country. That cuts deep not only on that family but every Filipino family in New Zealand”.
Noche had been in New Zealand for about four years and lived in Henderson.
“This man fell six or seven floors. He was a scaffolder. It is bizarre. The whole Philippines community in Auckland is talking about this. They’re in mourning and very upset. It’s difficult to understand what happened,” Santos said.
The Herald reported on a string of horrific accidents lately, many in Auckland, which left construction workers suffering terrible, sometimes fatal, injuries.
WorkSafe data showed the industry with the highest number of fatalities from February 2021 to January 2022 was actually transport, postal and warehousing, where 17 deaths were recorded. Construction came second with 11 deaths, followed by agriculture’s six deaths, six more in agriculture/forestry/fishing support services, and “other services”, with five deaths.
The past 12 months had a relatively low number of work injuries, illnesses and serious harm compared with the past seven years: in 2016 there were 2684 notifications; rising to 3172 in 2017; 3128 in 2018; 3144 by 2019; 2502 by 2020; and 2624 by 2021. In the most recent 12-month period — September 2021 to August 2022 — the total was 2512.
So far, this year has been one of the safest on record for worker injuries, WorkSafe data shows.
And while it has a high profile, construction jobs are actually less risky when fatalities in that sector are compared with others: 4.41 deaths per 100,000 construction workers compared to forestry at 48 deaths per 100,000. Transport, postal and warehousing has 15.51 deaths per 100,000 workers, while agriculture, forestry and fishing services has 14.39 deaths per 100,000 workers.
