Worker killed as rubbish truck reverses down Mangere drive

A worker on a South Auckland household rubbish truck was killed yesterday after being hit by the vehicle as it was reversing.

The truck, owned by Manukau City Council contractor Alpha Refuse Collections, had nosed into a driveway next to the Gadsby Supermarket in Gadsby Rd in the Favona sector of Mangere before the accident happened just before noon.

Constable Steve Shaskey of the Counties Manukau police serious crash unit said the truck had pulled into the driveway on vacant land to allow members of the kerbside collection crew to jump off and visit the shop.

He said the truck was reversing out of the driveway, to head back south along Gadsby Rd, when a pedestrian was killed.

Mr Shaskey said he did not know details about the victim, who has not yet been named by police.

But the police confirmed last night that the victim was one of the rubbish crew members, and that he died at the scene.

A Gadsby Rd resident said visitors to the accident scene, who later turned up in private vehicles, identified themselves to her as distraught friends and workmates of the dead man.

Another resident said he appeared to be aged in his 30s.

The accident is being investigated by the Department of Labour as being workplace-related, as well as by the police Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit.

A department spokesman said last night that its policy was not to comment on investigations while they were in progress.

Alpha Refuse Collections could not be reached, but a Manukau City Council spokesman said it would co-operate with the various investigations, given the involvement of one of its contractors.

"It's obviously a tragedy that someone has been killed while the rubbish is being collected," he said.

Yesterday was not the first time a worker has been killed collecting Manukau's household rubbish.

Refuse worker Brady Prouse Williams, 16, was crushed to death when he fell into the compactor of a recycling truck contracted by Street Smart in 2001.

The firm pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to ensure a safe workplace.

Its owner, Grahame Christian, was fined $17,000 even though a judge said the wrong firm was on trial and that a subcontractor who operated the vehicle but was not charged was more responsible for the death.