Resort fined after employee nearly crushed by tractor

MEDIA RELEASE

25 September 2015

Resort fined after employee nearly crushed by tractor

Kingstown Blue Spring Resort Limited (trading as Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel) has been fined $42,525 and ordered to pay reparation of $5,000 after an employee narrowly missed being crushed by a three tonne tractor as it rolled backwards off a two metre high bank.

The resort owners pled guilty and were sentenced today in the Auckland District Court under the Health and Safety in Employment Act for failing to keep their employee safe at work.

Kingstown Blue Spring Resort Limited has owned the tourist resort at Okoroire near Cambridge since August 2014 and at the time employed 16 workers – five of them foreign backpackers. The injured employee was from Argentina and employed on a working visa as a grounds man and part-time bartender.

On 5 March 2015, the employee was using the tractor to clean up branches from recently felled trees. He parked the tractor adjacent to a two metre high bank and filled the carry-all with branches and other debris. He then got on the tractor, placed it in neutral and started the machine. The tractor began to roll towards the bank and as the tractor had faulty brakes, he could not stop it.

The employee jumped off the tractor, falling two metres and landing on his back on a gravel path. The tractor rolled over the embankment, narrowly missing crushing him by about 10cm. He sustained bruising, abrasions and an injured shoulder.

WorkSafe’s investigation uncovered a number of safety failings. “The tractor was in poor condition, posing a significant hazard,” says Keith Stewart, WorkSafe’s Chief Inspector. “When the tractor was inspected, multiple issues were found, including worn brakes, bald front tyres and loose bolts in the axle beam.

“The tractor was also parked a few metres from a curved, dirt bank with few barriers. While the employee had been driving the tractor daily for almost six months, he didn’t have any tractor experience before working at the resort and was not provided with any training or supervision by his employers.

“Kingstown Blue Spring Resort Limited should have ensured that the tractor was properly maintained and serviced, that staff were properly trained and that hazards associated with the tractors were managed.”

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