Holiday job ends in death at landfill

A teenager's school holiday job at an Auckland landfill turned to tragedy when the tractor he was driving rolled and crushed him.

The death of 15-year-old Inia Motu Rauwhero Roberts at the Whitford Landfill on Tuesday was the ninth workplace fatality since the year started.

A supervisor tried to revive Inia, who was pinned under a rear wheel.

The young worker had been collecting windblown rubbish at the time.

A Department of Labour investigation will look at the work he was doing, his training and supervision, and whether he was suited to the job.

Initial investigations had found the tractor was fitted with seatbelts and rollover protection but Inia was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.

People aged over 15 can drive tractors in a work environment so long as they are properly trained and supervised, the department said.

Inia's father and a cousin also work at the landfill and were at the site when the accident happened, said Ken Bugden, a spokesman for Waste Management, which operates the landfill with the Manukau City Council.

He said Inia was employed as a casual worker during the school holidays.

"It will be well over a week before we would start our own internal review of procedures and making sure everything was followed the way it should have been followed and what went wrong."

Mr Bugden said staff were in shock and a number took yesterday off work.

"Our senior manager was there and tried to resuscitate him. He's not the best person to have a conversation with at the moment.

"It's fairly emotional out there."

Mike Cosman, Department of Labour chief adviser for health and safety, said nine workplace fatalities was the worst possible start to 2006.

Seven of the nine deaths were caused by crushing injuries.

"A lack of concentration or disregard for basic safety precautions seem to be common factors in these accidents."

Holiday periods could buy trying times for employers, workers and the self-employed, he said.

WORKPLACE DEATHS

Fatal accidents reported to the Department of Labour so far this year:

January 6: Farmer crushed under a bulldozer in Culverden.

January 6: Factory maintenance worker crushed between an elevating work platform and an overhead pipe in Auckland.

January 7: Napier transportation firm manager crushed in a container-lifting device.

January 9: Tree-feller Bunny Kaka, 41, struck on the head by a falling tree in Northland.

January 10: Roofer Ross Clueard, 56, died after falling 10m while working on a Whangarei building site.

January 10: Farm trainee Tobias Zebulon King, 19, crushed while loading bulls on to a truck in Fairlie.

January 10: Road worker Victor Joseph, 41, crushed under overturned road roller in Ongarue, Waikato.

January 10: Self-employed mowing contractor Alexander (Sandy) Goodman, 26, crushed under overturned mower near Lyttelton.

January 17: Student landfill labourer Inia Motu Rauwhero Roberts crushed under overturned tractor in Auckland.