Companies fined for failing to tell Maritime NZ of welder burned on ship

Two companies have been fined for failing to tell Maritime NZ a welder was burned while working on board a commercial fishing vessel at Port Nelson. Photo / 123RF

It was a year before authorities were told a worker was burned while welding on a ship, and the information arrived second-hand.

The two companies which failed to notify Maritime New Zealand about the accident have now been fined and ordered to pay costs totalling more than $40,000.

The country’s maritime safety and compliance regulator said the case highlights the importance of reporting serious incidents to the relevant regulator.

Failing to notify is an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Maritime NZ said it only became aware of the incident after it was eventually notified to WorkSafe NZ 11 months after it took place in November 2018. WorkSafe then told Maritime NZ.

Nelson-based marine refrigeration specialist Sturrock and Greenwood Ltd and Anchor Engineering Ltd have each been sentenced in the Nelson District Court on a charge of failing to notify a regulator of the accident which happened on board a commercial fishing vessel at Port Nelson.

Sturrock and Greenwood Ltd was hired to remove ammonia gas from the refrigerator of the vessel while Anchor Engineering was contracted to undertake the welding repairs.

Sturrock and Greenwood have so far not responded to a request for comment while Anchor Engineering declined to comment.

A worker welding a pipe in a confined area of the ship heard a noise coming down the pipe and was suddenly blown backwards; receiving minor burns to the neck.

The worker notified their employer about what had happened.

Maritime NZ regulatory manager John Drury said it was at that point that the parties involved in the incident were legally required to notify the relevant regulator of the incident, in this case Maritime NZ, but this did not happen.

“While it appears that there was confusion between the relevant organisations about reporting the incident, both Sturrock and Greenwood LTD and Anchor Engineering LTD had a duty to report.

“The policy should be, when in doubt, report, or contact the regulator for clarification,” he said.

Drury said, as demonstrated in this instance, failure to notify could be very expensive for organisations.

Anchor Engineering was fined $9600 and ordered to pay regulator costs of $13,000 while Sturrock and Greenwood was fined $8400 and ordered to pay costs of $9560.

Drury said that from a regulator’s perspective, notification was a hugely important tool.

It allowed incidents to be investigated quickly, which meant evidence was more likely to remain in place, with the ultimate aim of preventing serious workplace injuries or death.

Each organisation said it was easy to notify them of workplace incidents via a link on their website: maritimenz.govt.nz or WorkSafe Worksafe.govt.nz