$30,000 fine for worker's death

By GREGG WYCHERLEY

Petunia Waaka's workmates heard her screams when she became trapped in the revolving door she was cleaning and tried frantically to free her.

They used crowbars and cutting gear but the design of the door made it impossible to open.

The 29-year-old Waikato mother of three suffered severe crushing to her chest and died in hospital the next day.

Her employer, Te Kuiti-based Crusader Meats New Zealand, was yesterday fined $30,000 in the Te Kuiti District Court after admitting a charge of failing to ensure the safety of an employee.

Petunia Waaka was crushed on January 11 - just five days after the large, chain-driven steel revolving door was installed.

It was put in to meet Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry requirements that the slaughter and carcass-dressing areas must be separated by a special door.

Prosecutor Jeremy Bioletti, for the Occupational Safety and Health service, told the court several sheep carcasses had been caught in the door and had to be cut free in the days before the accident, which should have warned the company of the danger.

The door was unsafe because it could not be reversed, had no safety trip device or emergency stop button and staff had not been given specific training.

He asked for a penalty close to the maximum fine of $50,000 to reflect the gravity of the offending.

The company's lawyer, Tim Rainey, said managing director John Ramsey and his son, plant manager Mike Ramsey, were deeply sorry.

The accident was the result of a tragic oversight and the company had removed the door immediately and done everything possible to remedy the situation, Mr Rainey said.

Judge Robert Wolff said the failure to provide adequate safety measures or training showed a medium to high level of culpability.

"This is a serious miscalculation on the part of the designers and installers of the device."

He gave the company credit for an early guilty plea and for co-operating with the investigation and made gestures of reconciliation with the victim's family.

Judge Wolff ordered that the entire fine be paid into a trust fund for her children.

"But this is not in any way a measure of the value of the life that has been lost here."

Outside court, Petunia Waaka's sister, Cazna Waaka, said the family were unhappy that they had to rely on the OSH investigation and could not have their own lawyer in court.

Ms Waaka said the money was not important, and she was sad that her sister had died unnecessarily. "I feel it could have been prevented."

Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said a $30,000 fine was woefully inadequate and new health and safety legislation was needed urgently.

"We have heard a lot of politicians and employers' representatives criticising so-called exorbitant fines for employers.

"The reality is in this tragic story of a young mother of three who had a right to go to work and return home safely."