A Northland tree feller's widow has been awarded more than $382,000 in reparation following a worksite fatality. Photo / File
A Northland tree feller's widow has been awarded more than $382,000 in reparation following a worksite fatality. Photo / File
A log exporter and a forest harvester have been ordered to pay more than $382,000 in reparation to the wife of a Northlander who died after a tree fell on him while cutting trees.
Auckland-based Asian Natural Resources contracted Sullivan Contractors 2005 Limited of Kaitaia to chop trees on twoforestry blocks in Northland around the second quarter of 2017 when the tragedy occurred.
The tree feller was an employee of Sullivan Contractors 2005 Ltd and the company's safe operating procedure required workers to call in every 30 minutes but he did not and also didn't answer a phone call.
He was found unresponsive, face down under a fallen tree.
CPR was attempted but was unsuccessful. His name and other identifying details have been suppressed.
WorkSafe laid a charge against Sullivan Contractors 2005 Ltd of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 in that its failure exposed a worker to a risk of death or serious injury that arose from exposure to hazards associated with forestry work.
The maximum penalty is a maximum fine of $1.5 million.
A WorkSafe investigation found out that although the worker was an experienced tree feller, he had not been regularly doing that work manually for two years prior to his death.
He was not retrained or reassessed as competent before he returned from mechanical to manually felling trees nor was he supervised during the work.
This despite the company's Safe Operating Procedure- Manual Tree Felling Plan (SOP) saying any tree feller who had been out of task for more than three consecutive months shall be supervised for four hours or until deemed competent by the person in charge.
Director Anthony Sullivan told WorkSafe in regards to SOP: "I probably haven't read it all."
Three forestry workers have been killed in Northland since 2015, highlighting the danger of working in that sector.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
Company records showed it undertook an assessment of his tree felling the month prior to his death, but details of how that assessment was undertaken and what was observed were not recorded in accordance with industry standards.
Asian Natural Resources was also charged but under a different section of the act for its failure to properly organise and co-ordinate work in accordance with health and safety rules.
The company faced a maximum fine of $100,000.
Both businesses earlier pleaded guilty and appeared for sentencing in the Whangārei District Court this week.
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) covers 80 per cent of the deceased's worker's income and WorkSafe sought the remaining 20 per cent top up from his employer which amounted to $255,225.
In court, WorkSafe lawyer Jacinda Kirtlan said Sullivan Contractors 2005 Ltd should have been aware of deaths in the forestry sector as a result of failings around inadequate risk assessment and training.
She said 21 forestry workers lost their lives throughout New Zealand between January 2016 and May 2020.
Of those, three were in Northland.
Sullivan Contractors 2005 Ltd agreed to engage in a restorative justice programme but the worker's whānau declined the offer.
Company lawyer Prajna Moodley offered deep remorse to the
whānau in court for the failures while highlighting the significant measures taken on safe operating procedures for tree felling.
Asian Natural Resources director Mukesh Parshottam told the court his company went to great lengths to ensure health and safety were not compromised and that the terms of their contract stipulated the use of mechanical harvesters.
Asian Natural Resources director Mukesh Parshottam told the worker's whānau his company deeply regretted his death. Photo / Supplied
Judge Greg Davis said the sad reality was the passing away of a much-loved person which has left the court with the delicate and unenviable task of sentencing the two companies according to law.
For more than 20 years, he said Parliament has looked at toughening up the broader health and safety issues as it was concerned previous laws gave licence for worker's protection to be put on the backburner.
He said it was hard for a judge to look at the case and put a price on a person's life.
Judge Davis fined Sullivan Contractors 2005 Ltd $10,000 to be paid at $200 a week due to the company's financial state.
He ordered $110,000 in emotional harm reparation to be paid within one month to the deceased's worker's wife and a further $255,225 in consequential reparation.
Asian Natural Resources was fined $7000 and costs of $3415 to be paid to WorkSafe.
The company had earlier paid $10,000 to the worker's whānau.
Judge Davis addressed the whānau in te reo at the beginning of the proceeding as well as towards the end.
He said there was absolutely nothing he could say that would go anywhere towards lifting the burden they carried following the tragedy.
