August 12 2015

CTU wins second forestry private prosecution

The employers of 19 year old forestry worker Eramiha Pairama, Puketi Logging, were today found guilty of a charge under the Health and Safety in Employment Act relating to his death in 2013.

Specifically that Puketi Logging failed to take all practical steps to provide Eramiha with a safe working environment and particularly to ensure that he was not exposed to the dangers of the work he was being expected to manage on his own.

The CTU took the this private prosecution after Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) inspectors made the decision not to take a prosecution.

Selina Eruera, Eramiha’s mother is pleased that her son’s employer has been found guilty but there is little comfort to be taken. “Losing a a loved one, dealing with various people and agencies, and a court trial only highlights the need for change. Though we are pleased with the verdict it will never bring my son Eramiha Eruera Pairama back. It is my hope that steps and changes to the workplace will now be taken seriously and enforced to ensure the safety of all workers.”

CTU President Helen Kelly said "Eramiha should not have died at work. He was inadequately trained, unsupervised, and had not been provided with adequate safety briefings. He simply should not have been left to work alone that afternoon. He was killed in 2013 along with 10 other workers in the forestry sector.”

“The CTU needed to take this action highlight the inadequacy by the Government to step up on health and safety and carry out its role as legislator and regulator.”

“While we acknowledge that the new agency, Worksafe, has increased enforcement, we remain very concerned that the Health and Safety Reform Bill being raced through Parliament will reduce the rights of working Kiwis to raise concerns about safety issues at work.”

“The CTU has shown how leadership is important in the health and safety space to really make a difference with the accident rate in Forestry now dramatically reduced. We now need the Government to take the same sort of leadership.”

“This is the second private prosecution taken by the CTU in forestry with a guilty plea being entered for the death of forestry worker Charles Finlay entered on 3 August 2015.”

“The CTU wants to acknowledge the amazing generosity of all the lawyers who helped with this work pro bono including Nigel Hampton QC who led the case,” Kelly said.

ENDS

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