The company where a worker was electrocuted while loading shipping containers has been convicted and fined after it was prosecuted by Worksafe NZ. Photo / 123RF
The company where a worker was electrocuted while loading shipping containers has been convicted and fined after it was prosecuted by Worksafe NZ. Photo / 123RF
A worker left with burns and post-traumatic stress disorder after he was electrified on the job has been awarded $30,000 in emotional harm payment.
The worker, who asked not to be named due to ongoing ill health, was electrified when a colleague used an incorrect plug in an incorrect socket as they were loading shipping containers using a mobile conveyor.
North Island cold storage and logistics firm Icepak was convicted and fined $8000 in January this year for failing to notify WorkSafe NZ of the workplace accident which occurred in 2020.
It was also convicted for failing to comply with its duty to ensure the safety of its workers, but instead of being fined further, the charge was adjourned for 18 months for Icepak to comply with a court order, or face a further fine of $165,000.
The company is now owned by Hall’s Group which told NZME that although the incident in which the worker was electrified took place prior to its ownership, it did not hesitate to accept responsibility by supporting the staff member in question and fully cooperating with WorkSafe and the court process.
In August 2020, the worker was at Icepak’s Oringi plant near Dannevirke with two other staff in the loading team.
After loading the first container, he removed the plug that powered the mobile conveyor, and put the plug on top of the conveyor.
But as he removed it from the socket, the plug separated from the safety sleeve and locking ring, which remained behind in the socket.
An electrician later identified workers had perhaps “developed a habit of pulling the conveyor plug out without unscrewing the locking ring”, the Palmerston North District Court was told at a hearing last year.
The electrician said the damage probably happened when the man pulled the plug out.
After he’d removed the plug, the worker helped others move the conveyor to a second container for loading.
When it was in position another staff member collected the plug from where it had been placed on the conveyor belt and inserted it into one of the nearby sockets, but it wasn’t configured to take the socket.
A former worker (not pictured) for North Island-based firm Icepak has received $30,000 emotional harm reparation after he was electrocuted on the job. Photo / Stuart Munro
When the staff member returned to the container, he saw the other worker lying on the container floor.
The man had been sitting on or touching the conveyor and suffered an electric shock from the conveyor having been incorrectly plugged into an incorrect socket, Judge Lance Rowe said in his decision.
The worker initially complained of not being able to feel his left side and had difficulty walking.
He described in a victim impact statement how he was terrified when he suffer an electric shock, that he blacked out and fell to the ground, and was left with burns on his hands and legs.
The site manager drove him to a medical centre in Dannevirke, from where he was sent to the emergency department at Palmerston North Hospital and assessed for damage to internal organs.
He was unable to return to work and had to move in with his mother, as he could not afford to live on the benefit he was on.
He was left anxious, overwhelmed and suffering night terrors until a psychologist diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Judge Rowe said the man continues to suffer numbness in his arms and frequently feels as if he will pass out.
“He feels as if he is continuing to receive shocks. He does not understand what is happening to him and finds it very distressing.”
In assessing penalties, Judge Rowe noted Icepak Oringi’s good safety record and in this case, the low departure from prevailing health and safety standards.
However, while the company provided training for new staff, including plugging and unplugging the conveyor belt, it failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers by providing adequate training on the safe use of the electrical plugs and leads relating to the conveyor, and the risk of electrical shock in the event they were incorrectly used.
The incident that harmed the worker was a notifiable event but WorkSafe was not notified until two weeks later, and by a family member rather than the company.
In setting emotional harm reparation Judge Rowe referred to a similar case where a worker electrocuted on the job received $60,000.
However, he acknowledged the substantial payments Icepak had made to its worker, including ex-gratia payments (amounts over and above job termination payments) of $31,000, medical and psychological support and counselling costs of $4789 and supplementary payments to top up any shortfall while on ACC of $28,094.
“As a matter of principle, the court ought to encourage businesses to take responsibility at an early stage for acknowledged wrongdoing by voluntarily compensating a victim for harm suffered.
“These are the actions of a good corporate citizen or employer.
“Imposing a further reparation order above what would have been otherwise ordered may discourage timely financial assistance for an injured employee,” Judge Rowe said.
In assessing the fine he said it was a matter of luck that the incident wasn’t fatal, given the electrical currents involved, but Icepak’s culpability fell toward the bottom of the medium band.
“While the incident was undoubtedly serious, and could have been far more serious, the hazard that materialised, in this case, was not obvious and required safety mechanisms that had been adopted by Icepak to be, unexpectedly, overcome.”
As well as being convicted and fined the company was ordered to pay costs of $6243, being half the prosecutor’s costs.
A spokesperson for Hall’s said the company accepted the judgments and was fully committed to meeting the requirements, which included improved worker education on health and safety best practices, extensive leadership training and the commitment of considerable resources to make this happen.
“The safety of our people is an absolute priority and this is reflected in our company’s ongoing safety mission, which helps to drive our business forward in the right direction.”
