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A South Auckland woman yesterday pleaded through her tears for the construction industry to pay more attention to workplace safety.
Two years after her partner died in an industrial accident, Malia Pitolua said his death would not be in vain if the building industry stopped putting production and profit before safety.
With a badge bearing his picture pinned to her chest, she spoke a few minutes after Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure, trading as Stresscrete, was ordered to pay a record fine of $225,000 for knowingly operating a faulty crane that killed her partner, 46-year-old Esera Visesio.
It was the largest fine in New Zealand for an industrial accident.
Outside the Papakura District Court, Ms Pitolua said the outcome would make Fletchers and other companies realise that safety could not be taken for granted.
She and her partner had just begun an in vitro fertilisation programme when Mr Visesio was killed on March 10, 2005.
He died when a crane Stresscrete knew to be faulty failed and a concrete panel dropped on him. Another worker, Finauga Sa'u, 47, was injured.
Ms Pitolua said people like her partner went to work and expected to be safe, regardless of the size of the company. "You place your life in the hands of other people, especially your bosses, and you expect it to be safe.
"I can't stress enough the issue of safety. Even though it is too late for Esera, his death won't be in vain," she said before she stopped in tears.
"Maybe some good will come out of this."
She said her partner had told the company several times about the faulty crane.
"Fletcher chose to ignore that and during the court process we heard production was placed over safety," Ms Pitolua said.
"It has been very difficult going through the court process and having the death of someone you love replayed over and over again," she said, again breaking down in tears.
Knowing the accident could have been prevented and her partner could still be alive made it harder to bear.
During the sentencing, Department of Labour lawyer Shona Carr said the company knew there was no failsafe safety switch on the crane, but it still used the machine.
The company had done nothing to improve the safety of the crane in what was "disgraceful conduct", she said.
The experts agreed that had there been a safety switch the accident would not have happened.
The company knew the crane was reasonably likely to kill or harm "and they did it anyway", she said.
For Stresscrete, Graeme Christie said the company was remorseful and accepted responsibility. It was sorry the accident had happened with such tragic consequences.
Judge John Cadenhead said production or profit should never have been at the expense of personal safety where lives were involved.
The firm had hotly defended the charge it had pleaded not guilty to but now expressed remorse and had apologised.
He said the $225,000 fine was on top of the $250,000 the company had already paid the family in reparations. He also ordered Stresscrete to pay $5000 in solicitors' fees, $130 in court costs and $20,000 in reparation to Mr Sa'u.
The Department of Labour said the largest fine before today for a breach of the Health and Safety in Employment Act was $55,000, awarded against Downer Construction in 2005.
Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said the record fine was the strongest signal yet that the safety of workers had to be taken more seriously.
- NZPA
