Coroner finds Napier orchard worker Falaniko Ah Li was possibly distracted or ill before electrocution

Falaniko Ah Lin died when a cherry picker he was operating came in contact with or close to power lines in a Napier orchard in 2019. The photograph is from a funeral notice online.

• Falaniko Ah Lin was electrocuted when his cherry picker came near power lines in 2019.
• Coroner Heidi Wrigley found the orchard incident an accident, citing possible distraction or medical event.
• WorkSafe found no safety failings, but the cause of Ah Lin’s actions remains undetermined.

An orchard worker who was electrocuted while operating a cherry picker had received multiple warnings from his colleague about overhead power lines in the moments before his death.

Falaniko Ah Lin, 57, known as Niko, was operating the machine in an orchard at Meeanee, Napier, on the afternoon of October 17, 2019.

He was electrocuted when the cherry picker touched or came too close to the power lines and died at the scene.

WorkSafe investigated Ah Lin’s death and found no failings on the part of anyone responsible for his health and safety.

But its investigation did not address why he drove the cherry picker so close to the power lines with its boom extended, against safety protocols with which he was familiar.

A coroner has now determined it was an accident and has not ruled out that he might have suffered a medical event or been distracted.

Coroner Heidi Wrigley’s inquest findings released today stated Ah Lin had been standing in the bucket of the cherry picker with its boom extended.

After the accident, he was found slumped in the bucket and declared dead at the scene by a paramedic after the area was made safe and the bucket lowered.

Ah Lin was an employee of the contractor Landstaff. He had worked on the orchard before and performed the same manoeuvre with the cherry picker many times. He and his co-worker had been installing hail netting on several rows of fruit trees.

His co-worker asked him to take a roll of netting to the end of one of the rows and reminded him to “watch out for the wires”.

The co-worker told police that Ah Lin replied: “Yes, I know.”

Ah Lin then moved the cherry picker to the end of the row but did not stop or lower the boom as he was supposed to.

Instead, Ah Lin continued across a gravel laneway, towards the overhead power lines whilst in the bucket of the machine with the boom raised.

The colleague told police that as Ah Lin was tracking towards the overhead power lines without lowering the boom he yelled out to him three or four times.

Ah Lin neither looked at him nor stopped.

A WorkSafe investigator found that Ah Lin came into contact with the overhead power lines or came so close to those lines that electricity arced from the lines to the cherry picker.

The throttle of the machine was positioned at approximately three-quarters of full speed.

Given the warnings yelled out by the co-worker, and Ah Lin’s awareness of the power lines, Coroner Wrigley said she had considered whether he deliberately manoeuvred the machine to fatally electrocute himself.

She said the Samoan migrant was a family man who prioritised being a provider, had a good relationship with his wife and was an active church member.

A relative told the coroner he was never known to have struggled with mental health and was “always happy and proud of his family”.

“No evidence received in this inquiry suggests Mr Ah Lin had any reason or inclination to take his life,” the coroner said.

“I find Mr Ah Lin’s death does not amount to suicide.”

However, the coroner said that Ah Lin was found to have had narrowed coronary arteries, and this might have led to debilitating effects such as light-headedness or collapse which could have accounted for why he did not lower the boom or stop the machine.

Also, Ah Lin’s burned cellphone found on the ground showed he had made an unsuccessful call about six minutes before the power lines were tripped.

“Distraction arising from use of this cellphone could explain why Mr Ah Lin did not appear to respond to his co-worker’s warning and failed to follow safety protocol,” the coroner said.

“While the injuries to Mr Ah Lin’s hands were advised by [a doctor] to be consistent with holding the edge of the bucket, I observe this may also be consistent with holding his cellphone in one of his hands at the time of his death.”

The coroner determined that Ah Lin’s death was accidental.

“I have been unable to determine the cause of this accident but note the possibilities of distraction and him experiencing a medical event.”

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay.