Talley's Frozen Foods has been fined $110,000 after 11 workers at its Blenheim plant suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from forklift fumes.
Talley's Frozen Foods has also been ordered to pay $3000 in reparation to each of the workers for emotional harm.
After a three-day hearing in Blenheim DistrictCourt, Judge Michael Behrens convicted the company on 11 charges of failing to take all practical steps to ensure employee safety, by exposing them to the hazard of carbon monoxide fumes.
The Department of Labour brought the charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, The Press newspaper reported.
The court was told the forklift driver was under pressure and working alone on June 19, 2006. He had been told to use the LPG forklift in an enclosed area of the Old Renwick Road plant, and was unaware of the danger of carbon monoxide fumes in an enclosed area.
Labour Department counsel Andrew Gane said the harm must have been at the high end, with the victims being taken to hospital and treated with oxygen for up to seven hours in some cases, and without knowledge of the hazard.
Talleys' counsel, Garry Barkle, said the company now excluded LPG forklifts from the enclosed area.
The judge fined the company $10,000 on each of the 11 charges, and ordered reparation of $3000 to each of the 11 employees affected.
