Category: New Zealand Government – Business

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

28 February 2024

Businesses that contend with on-site traffic must learn from a collision that cost a woman her lower leg, WorkSafe New Zealand says.

The woman was waiting to collect whiteware from the customer collections area outside Trade Depot in Onehunga, when she was struck by a forklift in August 2022. The 68-year-old was rushed to hospital with injuries so severe her left leg had to be amputated below the knee.

WorkSafe charged Trade Depot after finding it had no effective traffic management plan to ensure moving vehicles and pedestrians were kept separate. In addition, WorkSafe investigators found that the lights on the forklift were not functioning at the time of incident.

“It is only by sheer luck that a serious injury or death was not caused before this incident. Forklifts were moving in and around pedestrians, delivering goods on a daily basis, but the site lacked any adequate systems to manage the risk of interaction between forklifts and pedestrians in the customer collections area,” says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Paul West.

“One-way systems, barriers, designated crossing points, and speed bumps or signage are among the measures that could have avoided this unfortunate injury. All businesses whose work requires traffic management should take notice of this case to ensure they aren’t falling short.”

In response to this incident, WorkSafe immediately issued two improvement notices to ensure a barrier was put between the pedestrian pathway and vehicles at the Onehunga site, and to ensure procedures were in place for forklifts operating near pedestrians. Both notices were complied with.

“Forklifts are a known risk – many people have died or been injured by forklift incidents, yet it’s clear the risks are not being appropriately managed in many workplaces. Risk assessment should consider anybody who could be harmed – which includes both workers and customers, and businesses must not lose sight of that,” says Paul West.

Read WorkSafe’s guidelines on managing work site traffic

Read about a 2016 WorkSafe prosecution of Trade Depot

Background

• Trade Depot Limited was sentenced at Manukau District Court on 27 February 2024
• A fine of $350,000 was imposed, and reparations of $141,502.12 ordered
• Trade Depot was charged under sections 36(2), 48(1) and (2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
  • Being a PCBU having a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons was not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking, namely operating forklifts in the customer collection area of Trade Depot Limited at 306 Neilson Street, Onehunga, Auckland, did fail to comply with that duty , and that failure exposed individuals to a risk of death or serious injury.
• The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

22 February 2024

We have published a prohibition for the sale (including an offer to sell), and use (including installation) of the Serene Classic S2068 wall mounted bathroom heaters, pursuant to Regulation 87 of the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010.

Read the Gazette Notice(external link)

Gazette notice correction of the serial numbers(external link)

Serene S2068 heaters manufactured in March 2021 have a manufacturing defect. There have been several fires and overheating events associated with these heaters.

There is a significant risk of people being seriously harmed and property being damaged from electricity going through these heaters.

The prohibited S2068 heater is described as:

• Wall mounted fan heater with step-down thermostat with pull-cord on-off switch, for fixed-wired installation in bathrooms and similar locations
• Mirror polished stainless steel metal shell with die cast grille
• Dimensions: 300 mm wide, 210 mm high and 110 mm deep.

The prohibited S2068 heaters have a serial number in the following ranges:

• VH145173 – VH147003
• VK154294 – VK160567
• WF167045 – WF168874

We are actively engaging with known suppliers and known locations that have the heaters available or installed to stop selling or using the heaters.

We also want to inform consumers who may have this appliance in their home, and potential suppliers such as stores and tradespeople, of what they need to do.

Other Serene bathroom heaters

We are also aware of two other Serene bathroom heater models, the S2069 and S207T, that we recently had tested, and did not comply with required safety standards. We are actively considering what further action needs to be taken in respect of these products.

If you have a bathroom heater in your home

• Check if your heater is a Serene model S2068 with a serial number in the range listed above. You will find this information on the top side of the unit when mounted on the wall.
• If you have this heater, do not use it.
• If it is installed in your property, get an electrical worker to make it safe by isolating it from the electrical supply, or contact your landlord to arrange this, and they can dispose of it safely.

Simon Gallagher, National Manager, Consumer Services at MBIE:

The Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) guarantees that products must be of acceptable quality, including safe to use. Where a product is unsafe — or doesn’t meet mandatory product safety requirements — you have the right to a refund, repair, or replacement. MBIE suggests consumers who have this heater return it to the supplier they purchased it from to discuss the most appropriate remedy under the CGA.

More information on consumer rights on unsafe products | consumerprotection.govt.nz(external link)

If you are a supplier of heaters

The Serene model S2068 with a serial number in the range listed above cannot legally be sold.

We are working with MBIE to reach out to known suppliers.

Simon Gallagher, National Manager, Consumer Services at MBIE:

MBIE are aware of the issues found by WorkSafe with the Serene S2068 appliance and are working with WorkSafe and the retailers of the product to discuss what they can do to ensure the safety of their customers. As part of this work, MBIE are encouraging these retailers to undertake a voluntary recall.

Questions?

Contact us at info@energysafety.govt.nz or 0800 030 040

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

20 February 2024

WorkSafe has accepted a binding commitment from the New Zealand Police to improve safety for speed camera operators, after one was critically injured in a high-speed collision on Auckland’s North Shore.

The operator was thrown from his parked van in August 2021, when it was struck by a car on the Upper Harbour Highway at Greenhithe. The car driver died, and the operator suffered life-changing injuries.

A WorkSafe investigation found that Police could have carried out a more effective risk assessment of locations where operators work from, and required them to park safely behind motorway barriers and/or use seatbelts.

In response to the incident, Police has now applied to WorkSafe with a comprehensive pledge to improve safety for its speed camera operators. WorkSafe has officially accepted the pledge, known as an enforceable undertaking, which includes:

• Reparations to the injured operator
• Delivery of an enhanced traffic camera operator induction and training package
• Implementing a framework for managing critical risks and ways to control them
• Creation of a dedicated critical risk team to embed the work programme
• Presentation of lessons learned to the transport sector

“These activities will enable something positive to arise from serious harm. The aim is to bring about enduring health and safety change in a way that a fine through the courts may not have,” says WorkSafe’s deputy chief executive operations, Kane Patena.

The commitment is endorsed by both the injured operator and the Police Association, and will see a significant investment from Police towards worker and job safety.

As a result of the agreement, WorkSafe charges against Police have been discontinued meaning a trial due to start next month will no longer take place.

“WorkSafe will regularly monitor progress on the activities which have been agreed, and can resume prosecution if the commitment is not upheld,” says Kane Patena.

In 2025, NZTA will begin operating speed cameras through a contracted third-party provider, using a different operating model to that of Police. Police will provide information on lessons learned and improvements made to NZTA to help inform its operation of mobile cameras.

Read the enforceable undertaking decision document

Statement from New Zealand Police Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming

Safety of the community and our people is at the heart of everything we do at New Zealand Police.

When one of our own is injured in the course of their duties, it’s felt deeply throughout the organisation.

Our Traffic Camera Operator (TCO) suffered serious harm, and we recognise the ongoing impact that has on his life, both personally and professionally.

While New Zealand Police continues to aid in his recovery, we know that is not enough – systematic change is required to ensure the safety of all 78 TCOs around the country.

This Enforceable Undertaking is an opportunity for us to further improve safe roadside policing.

More than a dozen changes to policy and processes are outlined in this binding agreement, from a health and safety review through to enhanced training for TCOs.

Some changes have already been made, including the establishment of a dedicated Critical Risk Programme team to embed the programme of work.

In 28 years of Mobile Speed Cameras, spanning hundreds of thousands of hours, this is the first incident of this nature. It’s important to note that this crash was a deliberate act by a member of the public who drove their vehicle at the Mobile Speed Camera van at considerable speed.

New Zealand Police has invested considerable internal resource and capability to undertake this rectification work and is committed to continuous safety improvement.

Statement from the injured traffic camera operator

I am pleased to see Police enter this agreement with WorkSafe. I hope it leads to long-term improvements, so nobody has to endure a repeat of what I’ve gone through.

When the collision happened, I was extremely smashed up. I spent the first few days in intensive care fighting for my life with a skull fracture and scalp lacerations, lung injuries, and fractures to my ribs and legs. With a total of three months in hospital, I was plain lucky to survive.

I still live with ongoing pain, and have difficulty walking long distances, but am able to swim and cycle.

Although I had 106 weeks off work, the goal I set myself was to return to being a traffic camera operator and did so in December 2022.

I am grateful to my wife and family for their support throughout my recovery – but also the Police for enabling me to return to work.

Source: Worksafe New Zealand

16 February 2024

Five experienced industry figures have been selected to join the New Zealand Mining Board of Examiners.

WorkSafe has responsibility for setting competency standards in the extractives industry. The Board was established in response to the Royal Commission into the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy. It advises WorkSafe on competencies, examines applicants, and issues and renews certificates of competence, among other functions.

The new appointees are Liz McKenzie, Andrew Weir, Andy Allen, Ed Ayre and Mathew Vandy. Fiona Bartier and Tim Kennedy have been reappointed, taking the full Board membership to 11 in total.

“All corners of the extractives sector are represented on the Board – we have representatives from the quarrying and mining industries alongside those with expertise in learning and development. There is a strong link to the industry’s training organisation, the Workforce Development Council,” says the Board’s chairperson, Paul Hunt.

“Above all, the Board members collectively bring a zest for getting health and safety right in the extractive sector. Improving the competence of the people in the industry is one of the most important aspects of improving health and safety performance,” says Paul Hunt.

Two inaugural members of the Board, Michelle Crompton and Steve Bell, are stepping down after more than a decade, having made significant contributions. Matt Mules and Garth Elliot have also stepped down, as has Dinghy Pattinson who has taken a new role as a WorkSafe inspector.

The Board of Examiners appointees begin their three-year terms this month.

Meet the NZ Mining Board of Examiners