Affco fined $500,000 over worker’s death in freezer - ‘wholly avoidable’

The Affco plant in Wairoa where Alfred Edwards died. Photo / Duncan Brown

By RNZ

Alfred Edwards was trying to free a jammed carton in a blast freezer at Affco’s Wairoa plant in February 2020, when a frame full of offal cartons fell and fatally crushed him.

The 61-year-old was alone in the back end of the blast freezer at the time.

Affco New Zealand Limited has been sentenced today in the Gisborne District Court for its health and safety failures.

Judge Warren Cathcart has described Edwards’ death as “a wholly avoidable event”.

He imposed a fine of $502,500 on the company.

WorkSafe said poor risk management and a lack of worker engagement were factors in the freezing worker’s death.

During an investigation it found the company was aware cartons had jammed previously, and the freezer had not been maintained to modern safety standards. While Affco said the freezer was only used intermittently, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 applies to anywhere work is carried out, regardless of how often.

“Affco had overarching health and safety procedures, but they weren’t applied in practice. Having a written process but not following it is the same as having nothing at all,” head of specialist interventions Dr Catherine Gardner said.

Following the death, Affco decommissioned the freezer.

“The investigation also found management didn’t spend enough time talking to workers on the job, to hear about and fix any safety issues with this machine. Doing so could have averted this tragedy.

“Mr Edwards was described as a man with mana who has left a huge void. The death has been devastating for his immediate whānau, and the small Wairoa community,” Gardner said.

Affco is owned by Talley’s Group Ltd. Since July 2021, WorkSafe has been taking a close look at Talley’s Group of companies, because of a history of serious health and safety incidents.

WorkSafe has finalised the monitoring and measurement approach it will take with Talley’s to make sure changes are enacted and followed; monitoring will continue for some time.

“Talley’s has acknowledged improvements were needed and has been proactively engaged throughout WorkSafe’s interaction with them. We’re being as thorough as possible in order to shift Talley’s health and safety culture in a meaningful way that creates lasting change, and keeps people healthy and safe,” Gardner said.

Affco was charged under sections 36(1)(a), 48(1) and (2)(c), of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.