Two Dunedin companies fined for workplace accidents

Media release
1 November 2013

Two Dunedin companies fined for workplace accidents

Injuries to two workers in separate Dunedin workplace accidents have had their sequels in the Dunedin District Court today.

Everitt Enterprises Limited was fined $40,000 (but will have to pay only $30,000 because of financial circumstances) and ordered to pay reparations to the victim of $10,500 following a fall from height while dismantling Allied Press’ printing press in May last year.

Harraway and Sons was fined $22,500 and ordered to pay reparations to the victim of $12,500. However, the company had already paid the victim $6060 so the final reparations to be paid will be $6440. The worker lost the tips of two fingers in a machine in January this year.

Both companies were charged under section 6 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act – failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of an employee while at work. The maximum fine is $250,000

In the Everitt case, the worker fell from an extension ladder which had become covered with ink from the press and which was not secured and suffered fractures.

The injury in the Harraway case was caused when the victim was able to reach into a machine while it was running. The machine should have had a correctly installed guarding system to ensure this was not possible. The machine had a number of guarding faults and required several guarding options, including a lock process, to comply.

“The lessons here are all about the need for employers to be very vigilant – to actively seek out potential danger spots and address them,” Keith Stewart, Chief Inspector Investigations for the Health and Safety group said.

“In both cases, taking simple safety steps would have prevented these unnecessary injuries to workers,” Mr Stewart said.

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