KiwiRail fined more than $200,000 after worker injured in preventable fall

Myles Dyeming said two years on, he is fully functional and back at work, but not yet at full fitness away from the job. Photo / RNZ, Jimmy Ellingham

By Jimmy Ellingham of RNZ

KiwiRail has been fined more than $200,000 for breaching health and safety laws when an employee fell 10m while installing a communications pole.

WorkSafe says the fall was preventable and KiwiRail admitted a charge of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The employee who fell, senior telecommunications technician Myles Dyeming, suffered a torn artery, a torn liver, a broken sternum, a punctured left lung, fractured vertebrae and five fractured ribs.

Dyeming was in a coma for days in hospital and later developed blood clots, which required groundbreaking surgery to remove.

He fell in October 2023 near Whanganui. He was flown to Wellington Hospital and later transferred to Palmerston North Hospital.

In the Whanganui District Court this month, KiwiRail was fined $220,000 and ordered to pay Dyeming $28,500 reparation.

‘Fundamental failures’

WorkSafe said the incident was a reminder to all businesses that do work at height to check their safety systems.

When he fell, Dyeming was installing a new type of Oclyte pole, which was different from the wooden poles previously used.

WorkSafe said its investigation uncovered “fundamental failures” in how KiwiRail managed the introduction of the new poles.

KiwiRail didn’t do a detailed, specific risk assessment, no dedicated procedures were developed and workers lacked training in “risk assessment for complex work at height”.

A fall arrest system was installed but not in use at the time, climbing pegs in the pole were not installed correctly and KiwiRail didn’t provide safer methods for the job, such as a mobile, elevated work platform.

“When you introduce new infrastructure, you can’t assume existing procedures will be adequate. Businesses need to step back, conduct a full risk assessment and consider the changes required,” WorkSafe central regional manager Nigel Formosa said.

“Businesses must first ask whether the job can somehow be done from ground level. If you can’t eliminate the need to work at height, consider using an elevated work platform or scaffolding.

“Fall arrest systems should be the last line of defence – not the first option.”

WorkSafe said Dyeming’s recovery took 10 months.

It said falls from height were a leading cause of workplace deaths and serious injuries, but were entirely preventable.

‘Five days missing’

Dyeming said he still had no memory of his fall or the immediate aftermath, until he woke up in Wellington Hospital’s intensive care unit.

“I’ve basically got five days missing from my life.”

He said he wanted to acknowledge KiwiRail’s support of him since the fall and at the time for providing accommodation for friends and family in Wellington as they stayed by his bedside.

“Obviously I’d rather not have fallen [but] a lot of good’s come of out. No one should ever fall again.

“KiwiRail’s supported me to develop a whole lot of health and safety tools.”

KiwiRail chief infrastructure officer Siva Sivapakkiam. Photo / RNZ, Rayssa Almeida

Dyeming said his employer had taken the incident seriously and was genuinely horrified at what happened.

Two years on, he’s fully functional at work, although he’s not back to full fitness away from the job.

Dyeming is a keen runner, but can now only run for about 1 to 1.5km at a time. He hopes to work his way to longer distances.

KiwiRail commits to doing better

KiwiRail chief infrastructure officer Siva Sivapakkiam said the rail operator deeply regretted the injuries Dyeming suffered.

“We have worked hard since the incident to ensure care has been provided to him, including meeting his expenses and providing compensation, along with ensuring his reintegration into our workforce,” Sivapakkiam said.

“KiwiRail accepts that it could have better assessed the specific risks involved in constructing the mast and done more to ensure that workers used safety equipment.”

Since the incident, it had put measures in place, including tightening requirements for teams working at height and design changes to telecommunications poles so workers could move freely without disconnecting from the mast.

“At the same time, KiwiRail has committed to a substantial safety programme to continuously improve safety outcomes.”

– RNZ