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Court Summary - at a glance

Date of offence:
29 December 2016
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Final decision date:
 
Fine imposed:
$330,000

Safety lessons learned:
  1. Ensure that the Weinig Planer was adequately guarded to New Zealand Standards;
  2. Ensure safe systems of work were provided for the Weinig Planer that included:
    • Formalised pre-start checks to ensure machine guards were present and functional;
    • Lockout/tagout procedures that incorporated jam-ups’
    • A system to ensure that new or returning staff are competent to operate the machine and follow safe systems of work.

Defendant name:
Claymark Limited
 
Industry:
Manufacturing
 
Date of offence:
29 December 2016
 
Facts in brief:
Claymark Limited is a timber processing company. The victim, a machine operator at Claymark’s Kopu site, suffered partial amputation of his hand when it was drawn into an inadequately guarded planer machine.
 
Offence section:
Sections 48(1) and 2(c), and 36(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
 
Date(s) charged:

Court:
Thames - District Court
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Final decision date:
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Fine imposed:
$330,000
 
Maximum fine available:
$1.5 million
 
Reparation:
$42,000 in addition to $10,000 already paid