Auckland Airport worker who lost fingertips on geese control duty didn’t receive proper training

NZ Herald

24 Nov, 2023 07:40 PM2 mins to read

Auckland Airport chief operations officer Chloe Surridge said the airport took ownership of the events that led to a wildlife team member suffering a significant injury. Photo / Jason Oxenham

A WorkSafe investigation into an Auckland Airport worker who lost the top of their two fingertips in a workplace accident related to geese control two years ago found they did not have adequate training.

On November 15, 2021, a staff member with the Auckland Airport wildlife team was monitoring geese near the airport’s runways.

The victim fired a cartridge from a pyrotechnic launcher towards the geese from the open driver’s-side window of their stationary work vehicle.

As a result of firing the launcher, the victim suffered serious harm, including a laceration to their right-hand palm and loss of two of their fingertips on their right hand.

The staff member with the Auckland Airport wildlife team was monitoring geese near the airport’s runways.

The WorkSafe investigation found the victim did not receive adequate training on the safe use of the launcher and storage and handling of the cartridges, and also found standard operating procedures relating to pyrotechnics were not as they should be.

National manager investigations Catalijne Pille said the way training was carried out was concerning.

“Training can be ‘watered down’ if it is simply passed on by person to person and not directly linked back to what the best practice states and the law requires,” she said.

“This matter highlights that businesses and organisations need to pay adequate attention to the use of equipment or keeping across training regimes.

“Passing down knowledge without having check-ins can mean gaps in information, or that training is not aligned with best practice.”

Auckland Airport chief operations officer Chloe Surridge said the airport took ownership of the events that led to one of its wildlife team members suffering a significant injury.

“We are deeply sorry for the impact this incident has had on the health and wellbeing of our team member and their family.

“While birds are a threat to aircraft safety, it is extremely important any tactics used to scare them don’t risk causing anyone personal harm. That wasn’t the case on this occasion, and we have worked closely alongside WorkSafe in full support of its investigation.

“We have also made significant improvements to ensure the future health, safety and wellbeing of our wildlife rangers, including more specialised training, changes in operating procedures and improvements in record keeping.”