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A coroner has referred what he sees as a possible gap in workplace health and safety legislation to the Department of Labour for consideration.
At an inquest into the death of a Christchurch teenager who was crushed by farm machinery, Christchurch Coroner Richard McElrea was told the circumstances of the fatality fell outside the Health and Safety in Employment Act's jurisdiction.
Thirteen-year-old Carlo Jacob "CJ" Holster was killed instantly last May when the boom of a log-splitting machine fell on him at his grandmother's farm at Kainga, 15km north of Christchurch.
Labour Department health and safety inspector Terence Williams told the inquest that for the past 15 years the log splitter had sat disused and had never been maintained or inspected regularly to check for deterioration.
Its conveyor belt boom had been left in an elevated position with its sole means of support a wire rope that had become badly rusted from years of exposure to the weather.
Carlo had been with friends at the farm for a day of activities including motorcycle riding and was waiting for a ride when he decided to play on the log splitter.
He was under the 10m boom, swinging on it with his feet off the ground and shaking it enough to lift the machine's wheels off the ground when the cable snapped.
Carlo was crushed by the two-tonne boom, suffering fatal head and brain injuries when be was trapped beneath the machinery.
His father, Christopher, was nearby but he and other family members could do nothing to save the boy.
Mr Holster, who described Carlo as a "free spirit who was always happy", said he'd noticed Carlo swinging on the boom.
"I wasn't paying much attention to him because he wasn't doing anything wrong," Mr Holster said in a statement to police.
He said he became a "bit frustrated" at Carlo who was "the type of kid who tends to be a bit rough on things".
Mr Holster said: "I was just about to yell out to him to stop when the cable broke."
Mr Williams told the coroner the log splitter was in poor mechanical condition as a result of neglect.
Its boom had deteriorated to such an extent it was unsafe, he said.
Mr Williams recommended that regular maintenance checks should be made even when such machinery was inoperable and said the log splitter should not have been left with the boom elevated.
To a question from Mr McElrea, Mr Williams said the circumstances of the fatality fell outside the Health and Safety in Employment Act enforced by the Labour Department. The act did not extend to cover members of the public who might be endangered.
Mr Williams told the coroner he knew of many farms in the Canterbury and West Coast regions that had "large amounts" of disused machinery lying around.
He said such machinery could be hazardous, especially if children were on the property.
Disused machinery presenting a hazard to workers on the property should be removed.
In his preliminary finding, Mr McElrea said it appeared the accident fell outside the legislation because the farm was not a place of work as defined in the act.
"The circumstances of this fatality highlight a possible gap in the Health and Safety in Employment Act," he said.
"It seems desirable that the Department of Labour should have jurisdiction to investigate circumstances such as this."
- NZPA
