Coroner wants new deal for guards

Charanpreet Dhaliwal. Photo / Supplied

The friend of a slain security guard hopes other young people are protected following a coroner's inquiry into the death of 22-year-old Charanpreet Singh Dhaliwal.

Surinder Singh of Auckland was the last person Mr Dhaliwal spoke to over the phone on November 18, 2011.

Mr Dhaliwal was killed early that Friday morning as he worked alone at a West Auckland construction site on his first shift.

Now, Coroner JP Ryan has made several recommendations including better training, better risk assessment, and more welfare checks to prevent a similar tragedy happening again.

Mr Singh said other young people had been risking their lives working in the industry, and better regulation and "proper training" were overdue.

"There are other students out there like Charanpreet. He wanted to work, he was far from home, he needed a job, he needed money to survive."

Security companies should not cut costs on protecting staff, Mr Singh said. "Money doesn't mean you risk someone's life."

Nobody has been held criminally liable for Mr Dhaliwal's death.

A man who was charged with his murder was found not guilty at trial.

Mr Dhaliwal's employer, CNE Security, was investigated for failing to ensure his safety and also cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Four years on from his friend's death, Mr Singh welcomed the coroner's recommendations.

"It's really good that they're trying to do something."

Coroner Ryan said CNE owner Cherag Elavia's knowledge of previous break-ins and attempted thefts at the West Auckland site was somewhat vague.

A Department of Labour report found CNE could have taken more steps to minimise risk.

When Mr Dhaliwal died there was no mandatory training before a person could get a Certificate of Approval and start working as a guard, Coroner Ryan said. But regulations had since been introduced to address that.

"However ... the situation that occurred on November 18, 2011 could still occur today; an untrained but licensed security guard could be confronted by intruders on a dark and deserted work site."

This should be addressed, Coroner Ryan said.

He made several recommendations to agencies including the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Ministry of Justice and Worksafe New Zealand.

A union with about 200 security guard members also welcomed the recommendations, and said security was often a "cowboy industry" where rules were ignored or didn't exist.

"The recommendations, if they're followed through, would mean that these employers cannot put a guard on a worksite with no training, the briefest of instructions, and a personal cellphone," Unite assistant secretary Tom Buckley said.

Mr Dhaliwal's mother, Karanjit Kaur, a widow, sold family land in North India to send her son to New Zealand to study. Mr Dhaliwal arrived in February 2010 and was studying IT at a college in New Lynn.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the ministry was considering the coroner's recommendation.

Mr Elavia and the New Zealand Security Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment.