Employer cleared over security guard death

Selwood Road Henderson at which Charanpreet Dhaliwal died. Photo / Doug Sherring

The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) is calling for an appeal to be launched after the Waitakere District Court ruled that the death of a young security guard is not the responsibility of his employer.

Charanpreet Dhaliwal was found dead on his first night working as a security guard on a construction site in Henderson in November 2011.

The man accused of killing him was last month found not guilty in the High Court.

Now, his employer CNE Security has been cleared of a charge of failing to secure the 22-year-old's safety.

But CTU President Helen Kelly says the decision is wrong.

"He is a young man employed on the day he was killed.

"Killed on his first day at work, given a ten minute induction, left on a building site in the middle of the night, and not checked on until 4.00AM when he was dead."

Helen Kelly says someone needs to be held accountable.

"It sends a message that this sort of employment practice - a casual lack of care that we see across the New Zealand workforce - is acceptable."