Goat farmer fined $75k after worker falls from bunker and suffers spinal injury

The woodchip pit at Clarkin Goat Company Ltd in Ngahinapouri.

For Colin Austin, farming was his life.

Then he suffered a devastating spinal injury in a workplace accident. He is unable to eat or drink properly, drive and will likely never work again.

March 1, 2021 was just another day for Austin, who worked at Clarkin Goat Company Ltd in Ngahinapouri, west of Te Awamutu.

He’d prepared the feed then fed the goats and changed the herd’s bedding in the main barn.

Around 3.30pm, Austin went to cover wood shavings stacked in a 2.4m high, 14m long concrete bunker with a tarpaulin that weighed nearly 55kg.

Clarkin Goat director Peter Clarkin was usually around to help Austin with the tarp, but on this day he wasn’t.

Instead, Austin did it himself. He climbed onto the wall and pulled the tarpaulin using the attached length of rope.

It didn’t move so he pulled harder - and the rope snapped.

Austin lost his balance and fell 2.4m outside the wall, landing on top of his head and temporarily losing consciousness.

Once awake, he couldn’t move or reach for his mobile phone, and nobody heard his calls for help.

Clarkin found him about 40 minutes later.

Austin fractured his C1, C6 and C7 vertebrae in his neck, leading to the spinal cord injury, and fractured his left wrist and left patella. He also suffered ligament damage, a 30cm cut to his head and a traumatic brain injury.

Worksafe discovered Clarkin Goat had not identified a fall from the bunker as a hazard for its workers, and there was no record of a risk assessment.

There was also no formalised procedure for covering the wood shavings with tarpaulin. The company was charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of Austin while at work by exposing him to death or serious injury by a fall from height.

Clarkin was in the Hamilton District Court this week as the company’s representative for sentencing on the charge, after earlier accepting a sentence indication.

Austin and his partner were also in court to hear proceedings.

There was no formal procedure for covering the wood shavings.

James Gurnick, on behalf of Clarkin Goat, said the company had little money and reparation would be paid by its insurance company.

He said his client was keen to attend a restorative justice meeting but it didn’t go ahead.

Worksafe prosecutor Kitty Opetaia said as well as the $50,000 reparation previously indicated, the agency was also seeking an additional financial consequential loss payment of $25,068.82 to provide for the shortfall between what Austin would get working full time and his ACC payments up to this month.

At his previous hearing, the court heard Austin spent three months in hospital before being transferred to Burwood’s spinal unit in Christchurch.

A gastric tube was inserted and he had to get his partner to mash up his medication for him.

At the time of the accident, Austin was 47 and extremely fit, now he suffered concussion symptoms and has issues with his sight. He also has limited movement in his neck because of rods that had to be inserted.

Judge Kim Saunders asked Opetaia if Austin had made any progress in his recovery. He said it was minimal; only that his gastric tube would soon be removed.

Judge Saunders said it was “without doubt, the last two years have been devastating for [Austin], his partner and for his two children”.

“The accident has affected every single aspect of your life, Mr Austin, family life, personal life, professional life, psychological life, and financial life and I cannot understate the impact on you.

“As you so starkly put it - the future is your main concern and you don’t know if you will ever work again.

“Farming, you tell me, was your life and the frustration is just adding to all of the issues.”

She hoped that, with time, he might be able to work again.

“I don’t know to what degree or what extent - I can only express my hope that in the future you will be able to do so.”

As for the offending, Judge Saunders noted the “obviousness of the hazard was clear with the risk of falling from a high of 2.4m and the company should have appreciated that”.

She ordered Clarkin Goat Company Ltd to pay a total $75,068.82 to Austin before telling him, “nothing I do will ever repair that for you or wind back the clock and money is often simply the only means by which some recompense can be made to you”.

Judge Saunders hoped it would go some way to help ease the family’s financial burden.

“I can only express my sincere with that in the future, life will get better.”

Outside court, Austin said he thinks he’s come as far as he can, health-wise.

“For a spinal cord injury, this [is] it, I’m lucky to move my hands.”

He said the one thing that had remained the same was his hearing; it could possibly have got slightly better.

“That’s the only thing that’s the same, my eyes have deteriorated, I lost my voice due to the operation, it’s changed.

“It’s affected everything from basically the shoulders down.”