Tranz Rail fined $15,000 for safety breach

Monday 21May 2001

A recent Occupational Safety and Health Service prosecution has highlighted that workplace safety can involve people who are not actually working.

Tranz Rail have been sentenced to pay a fine of $15,000 for failing to ensure a person in the vicinity of a workplace was not exposed to hazards.

The case involved an elderly woman from Papatoetoe, Auckland who was standing on her back porch and was struck on the head by a rock. The rock was catapulted from a ride-on mower driven by a Tranz Rail contractor who was clearing scrub close to the railway lines.

The court ruled that the contractors had used an inappropriate method of vegetation control. The woman was injured and later hospitalised for ten days.

"This sentencing serves as a valuable reminder that safety must be in the forefront of people’s minds when they go to work," said John Forrest, Service Manager, Auckland OSH.

"Health and safety in the workplace includes keeping yourself safe and ensuring the safety of others, even those in the vicinity of the immediate workplace.

"Employers must take a systematic approach to identifying workplace hazards and put systems in place to protect workers. These systems need to be constantly reviewed and updated.

"Workplace accidents cost New Zealand $4 billion a year, most of it falls on businesses. By taking health and safety seriously, businesses can make considerable savings."