TOP STORY: Firm to pay worker who lost arm

By Dylan Thorne
A Tauranga company has been ordered to pay $14,000 to a worker who lost the lower part of his right arm in an industrial accident - even though the man failed to follow safety procedures.
Jaxxon Concrete Pumps Limited was also fined $7000 in Tauranga District Court this week after earlier admitting that it failed to ensure the safety of its concrete pump operator, Simon Oliver.
Mr Oliver admits he was to blame for the accident and is stunned his former employer was even prosecuted.
The charge, laid by the Department of Labour, related to an accident on April 12 this year when Mr Oliver was operating a concrete pump at a building site in Ohauti.
Crown prosecutor Sharee Christensen said that once the pour was completed, he began cleaning out the hopper - a set of rotating paddles that push slurry to the pump mechanism - while the agitator blades were still moving.
He did not follow the company's standard procedure of placing the agitator blade control lever in neutral and locking it before cleaning.
"One of the paddles caught his glove and trapped his hand in the hopper with the agitator blades moving.
"As a result his right arm was amputated at the elbow."
A section of grating that usually covers the top of the hopper was missing at the time of the accident and was later found in the company yard.
Ms Christiansen said the accident could have been avoided if a simple interlocking mechanism had been installed, which would have ensured that the rotating paddles could not move if the grating was open or had been removed.
She acknowledged the company had not had any previous accidents and had expressed remorse but the onus was on the employer to take adequate steps to ensure the safety of the employee.Defence lawyer Simon Ward said the company took its safety obligations seriously. A training programme was in place and Mr Oliver had been accompanied on his first 15 jobs.
"At no stage was it suggested to him that he should commence a washdown with the paddles running."
Jaxxon Concrete Pumps was not a company that took shortcuts on its safety measures, he said.
"There was a genuine belief that they were operating a safe truck and had genuine processes in place.
"Mr Oliver was the author of his own misfortune in that he failed to follow correct procedure."
The company had been unaware of a construction bulletin that referred to an Australian standard for an interlocking system.
Judge Ian Thomas said it was not a case of the company turning a blind eye but the accident had highlighted a gap in their safety procedures.
The employee had been careless but an interlocking system would have prevented the accident, he said.
Jaxxon Concrete Pumps manager Ben Hall told the Bay of Plenty Times the total cost of reparation, the fine and legal fees would reach about $30,000 and that it would have a "significant" impact on the business.
"It [court costs] will have an impact. We told the lawyer that if the fine was too much we would have to fold. It depends on the payment plan on the fine and reparation what happens next," Mr Hall said.
The Maleme St company employs five people and has been in business for eight years.
The $14,000 reparation paid to Mr Oliver will be covered by insurance but the rest of the money will have to be met by the company.
It has now installed the interlocking mechanism in one truck and will spend about $4000 on each of the firm's remaining four trucks.