KEY POINTS:
Cement maker Holcim New Zealand was today ordered to pay $55,000 for the death of a contractor's employee at the Cape Foulwind quarry last year.
Holcim appeared for sentencing in Westport District Court over the death of Raymond David Finn, 44, of Nelson.
Mr Finn was employed by
a Holcim contractor, Brightwater Engineering, when he was crushed to death on July 13.
Holcim last month pleaded guilty to failing to take all practicable steps to ensure Mr Finn's safety during maintenance work on the return conveyor of a crusher plant.
Judge Jacqui Moran today ordered the company to pay $35,000 reparation to Mr Finn's family and a $20,000 fine.
Department of Labour lawyer Mike Hargreaves said Brightwater had been contracted to perform maintenance work on the crusher plant after a conveyor belt broke on July 10.
Mr Finn and another employee had filled out a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) form at the request of a Holcim supervisor.
Mr Finn was replacing trough sets and rollers underneath the hopper which fed limestone onto the conveyor.
He and another employee, Blair Luff, were working on the plant.
Mr Luff went for lunch and when he returned he found Mr Finn had been crushed underneath the hopper.
Mr Hargreaves said the JHA form was not up to date, and did not explain the hopper had a limestone buildup and was unstable if the bolts were removed.
He said the JHA had not broken down the hazards of individual tasks and did not explicitly direct Mr Finn on what was and was not to be done.
Holcim had also not ensured that Mr Finn was trained in the JHA procedures.
Holcim's lawyer Paul Rodgers said Holcim acknowledged the family's loss and the suddenness of Mr Finn's death.
He said it was not anticipated Mr Finn would continue working on the hopper, otherwise the JHA would have been updated.
Judge Moran said Holcim and Brightwater Engineering had each given $50,000 to a trust set up for Mr Finn's widow and children.
She said Holcim's culpability was in the lower end of the scale but she recognised the seriousness of the event.
Holcim's failure to update the JHA increased the likelihood of harm to its employees. If the JHA had identified specific tasks more stringently, it might have prevented Mr Finn from doing what he did.
She took into account its early guilty plea and remorse. Since the accident, Holcim had reviewed its JHA practices and working-alone policies.
- NZPA
