Court Summary - at a glance

Date of offence:
23 June 2021
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Final decision date:
 
Fine imposed:
Starting point $400,000 reduced to $0 due to establishing financial incapacity

Safety lessons learned:

Being a PCBU having a duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU, including the victim, while the workers were at work in the business or undertaking, namely operating the A5 debarker, did fail to comply with that duty, and that failure exposed the workers to risk of serious injury or death.

It was reasonably practicable for Newey Machinery Limited to have:

  • Ensured a machine guarding assessment of the A5 debarker was completed by a competent person prior to its operation in New Zealand.
  • Ensured the machine guarding on the A5 debarker met the requirements of AS/NZ 4024 prior to operating the A5 debarker in New Zealand.
  • Provided adequate training to its workers about the operation and maintenance of the A5 debarker.
  • Had a safe system of work in place, including having Standard Operating Procedures and a Job Safety Analysis, prior to operating the A5 debarker in New Zealand.

Defendant name:
Newey Machinery Limited
 
Industry:
Manufacturing
 
Date of offence:
23 June 2021
 
Facts in brief:
The victim, a worker of Newey Machinery Limited, sustained serious injuries after he reached into the gap between the upper and lower rollers which crossed the light beam that activates the rollers of the A5 debarker machine. The rollers closed and trapped the victim’s wrist. He sustained a compound fracture and dislocated wrist.
 
Offence section:
Sections 36(1)(a) and 48(1) and (2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
 
Date(s) charged:
16 June 2022

Court:
Whangarei - District Court
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Final decision date:
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Fine imposed:
Starting point $400,000 reduced to $0 due to establishing financial incapacity
 
Maximum fine available:
$1.5 million
 
Reparation:
Emotional harm:
$20,000 to be split equally between the two defendants. CFGC were charged in relation to this matter and have applied for an EU which is still being considered.

An order for the matter to be brought back before the court was made. This will occur on 1 May 2023 and if the second defendant hasn’t paid reparation this will be assessed and may be ordered to be paid by Newey.

Costs:
Legal costs - $1,602.26
Investigation costs - $2,228.12
Total - $3,830.38
 
Related Documents:
PDF
WorkSafe New Zealand v Newey Machinery Limited (PDF 203 KB)
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