Companies held liable for fatality

Three companies have been hit with more than $86,000 in fines and reparations after a New Zealand man fell to his death on the first day of his new job last August.

H & P Demolition, V Boothby Contractors and The Prayer & Power Training Centre Trust were prosecuted by the Department of Labour for breaches of the Health and Safety in Employment Act following the fatality.

The 43-year-old man fell seven metres through a plastic skylight onto the concrete floor beneath and died two days later. He received no training or protective equipment and was put to work on the roof of the building under demolition within hours of being hired.

Department health and safety service manager for Western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, Faye Frelan said the incident could easily have been a multiple fatality, as a number of inexperienced workers were on the roof at the same time.

Apart from being warned to watch out for the plastic roofing and to walk on nail heads, the man and other workers received no training. There was nothing to prevent them from falling through the skylights or off the roof and safety harnesses were not supplied.

H & P Demolition and V Boothby Contractors were fined $28,000 and $16,000 respectively, and ordered to pay $25,000 and $15,000 to the family of the victim. The Prayer & Power Training Centre Trust was fined $2500 for its part in the fatal accident.