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Court Summary - at a glance

Date of offence:
14 January 2014
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Final decision date:
 
Fine imposed:
$49,500

Safety lessons learned:
  • Reduce the number of apple trees in the row and reshaped the terrain to ensure the tractor had sufficient space to move through the area.
  • Erect suitable barriers along the edge of sloping and terraced terrain where tractors are required to operate in narrow areas. 3. Ensure that rollover protective structures and seatbelts are used when operating tractors.

Defendant name:
AB Wood Holdings Limited
 
Industry:
Agriculture
 
Date of offence:
14 January 2014
 
Facts in brief:
The Defendant company is a family operated business which runs a 60 hectare apple and kiwifruit orchard. The deceased victim was employed by the Defendant to do tractor work and odd jobs on the orchard. On the day of the incident, he was mowing the grass between the rows of apple trees on the ‘seaview block’ of the orchard. The accident occurred while the victim was manoeuvring the tractor along a narrow part of the row which tracked up sloping terrain. There were no witnesses to the incident. The tractor was too close to the edge of the embankment and was found upside down.
 
Offence section:
S6 Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992
 
Date(s) charged:
23 June 2014

Court:
Nelson - District Court
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Final decision date:
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Fine imposed:
$49,500
 
Maximum fine available:
$250,000
 
Reparation:
$85,000