Firm fined for worker's fall

A company operating a dyehouse and wool spinning yarn plant has been convicted after an employee fell off the roof of its Dannevirke plant last year.
Canterbury Spinners Ltd was fined $26,000 and ordered to pay $6000 in reparation after pleading guilty to a charge laid under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.
The charge was failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of an employee while at work.
Canterbury Spinners Ltd is a textile business and is part of the Australasian Godfrey Hirst group , operating a dyehouse and woollen yarn spinning plant in Dannevirke.
Graeme Baker of Dannevirke was employed by the defendant in November 2006 at the site as a processing worker and previous to this, had been employed at the site by Feltex.
In April 2010, during a quiet period of production, factory manager Lui Gundersen and supervisor Neal Haste discussed painting the roof of the administration building. Maintenance and cleaning tasks at the site were often carried out during quiet periods to keep staff employed.
Mr Haste assessed Mr Baker as one of three people who he felt was suitable to carry out the task and approached him to ask if he would be comfortable to water-blast the roof and paint it afterwards.
Mr Baker agreed and told him he had done this many times previously on his own home and other houses. He completed the water-blasting without incident but the painting was delayed as production demands increased.
On May 18, Mr Haste approached Mr Baker about painting the roof of the administration building, which is a single-storey building.
Prior to work starting, an assessment was undertaken by the two men which included safety procedures for access to the roof and working on the roof. Mr Baker was provided with a 2m long roller and told to work in a forward direction and not to walk backwards on the roof.
As part of the monitoring process, Mr Haste frequently checked on Mr Baker.
At 12.45pm, Mr Baker was completing the final coat when he stepped back onto the edge of the spouting which gave way under his weight. Mr Baker fell approximately 2.974 metres into a garden area resulting in serious harm injuries. He suffered severe bruising and six fractured ribs.
An investigation by the Department of Labour found Canterbury Spinners Ltd had breached the Health and Safety Act 1992 by failing to to take all practicable steps to ensure Mr Baker was not exposed to the hazard of a fall from height at his place of work.
The department's publication Guidelines for the Prevention of Falls sets out practical advice on identifying fall hazards and controlling the risks of working at heights.
A copy was not given to Mr Baker and neither Mr Gundersen or Mr Haste believed it was necessary to follow the guide as it was only for working at height more than three metres.
Counsel for the Department of Labour Andrew Gane said the height was irrelevant as there was potential for serious harm.
" Mr Baker did not suffer the most serious of injuries but broken ribs are serious. The potential for even great injury was there."
Mr Wrag said the company had already compensated Mr Baker outside of ACC and the terms of his contract. Judge Nevin Dawson asked if these payments were reimbursements for actual costs to which Mr Wrag replied "yes, but he was not entitled to them."
"The company has also made additional offers to mow his lawns and shift firewood to help him during this time."
Judge Dawson said Canterbury Spinners Ltd needed to be held accountable and it was necessary to impose a penalty which deterred others.
"I accept the defendant has a good safety record and have fully co-operated with the inspectors.
"An assessment was carried out but you got it wrong.
"Not enough safeguards were put in place and a further factor is he was working at height which is dangerous and there is the potential for serious injury."