Jared Te Whare is sadly missed by his whānau in Te Kūiti who were called to the scene of his workplace death at the beginning of 2020. Photo / Supplied
Jared Te Whare is sadly missed by his whānau in Te Kūiti who were called to the scene of his workplace death at the beginning of 2020. Photo / Supplied
A Te Kuiti meat worker suffered a seizure while standing on a 2.4m high platform, before falling to his death.
Jared Te Whare died on the floor of Universal Beef Packers Ltd (UBP) where horrified family members would soon find him, surrounded by other onlookers.
His heartbroken whānau shared theirgrief and continued anger in the Hamilton District Court today as UBP was sentenced on a charge of exposing a staff member to risk of serious harm.
Te Whare's 34-year-old sister, Carmin, told the court through tears how her brother "used to do the rounds" and visit family on his way to work each day.
"I wish I could sit across the table from him for one more morning and have our chat. I miss him so much."
Universal Beef Packers Ltd in Te Kūiti. Jared Te Whare died there after a seizure caused him to fall from a height in February 2020. Image / Google maps
She and her sister were rung about her brother's accident and drove to the site, to find him lying in a pool of blood on the ground.
"It was just overwhelming ... there he was just lying on the floor. There was a pool of blood near his head and all these people were just standing around looking at us.
"I knelt down to touch him and there were all these people intruding. It wasn't respectful of him or my family," she said.
Jared Te Whare was in his 30s, had epilepsy, and was known to have seizures.
On February 12, 2020, Te Whare arrived at work sometime between midday and 3pm.
WorkSafe prosecutor Rachel Woods said about 3.20pm Te Whare was helping with the mid-shift clean and was on the legging stand, which is about 2.4m in height and used to hang the animals.
It appeared as though a colleague then asked him to press a button to allow carcasses to come through when he suffered a seizure and fell.
He died of severe head and chest injuries.
Woods said there was no edge protection on the legging stand, but that's because it wasn't possible due to the possibility of a contamination risk.
Jared Te Whare loved his job at Universal Beef Packers. He also loved hanging out with his workmates and was always early to work. Photo / Facebook
Instead, after previous discussions with WorkSafe, it had installed a harness system for workers who used the legging stand.
However, it was common for workers, including Te Whare, to continue to use the legging stand despite not being allowed to, and being reprimanded in the past.
WorkSafe launched a prosecution because UBP's policy on the safe use of the legging stand was ineffective with users unaware of the prohibition policy or if they did use it, there wasn't adequate enforcement of it.
"The defendant has acknowledged that it failed to train all workers and adequately monitor and provide supervision of not accessing the legging stand.
"It was a zone that Mr Te Whare was not supposed to enter and it was the monitoring of this zone that led to the prosecution.
"Jared had been seen going onto the stand multiple times before. It was not a one-off … there were no warning signs indicating that it was a prohibited area."
Woods said WorkSafe was seeking emotional reparation for the family between $50,000 and $60,000.
An earlier $10,000 payment toward his tangi could also be factored into the payment, she said.
Asked by Judge Simon Menzies about Te Whare suffering a seizure at work, Woods said the company was still culpable and had a duty to protect all of its workers and their physical conditions.
"So knowing that there was a worker who suffered from epilepsy and seizures at work, it was incumbent on the defendant to ensure that he was not exposed to risks such as a fall from height.
"It's not accepted that [epilepsy] lessens the defendant's obligations."
UBP's counsel Brett Harris said Te Whare had suffered a hand injury and when he returned to work he was expected to remain "on the ground".
On the day of the accident, he was asked by a member of the slaughter team to press the conveyor belt button.
Asked by Judge Menzies how many seizures Te Whare had suffered at work, Harris said the company was only aware of two in the past 10 years at UBP.
According to medical evidence, it appeared the seizures were common elsewhere, outside of work.
Harris said Te Whare was a valued and missed member of the company and his arriving at work early was because he enjoyed catching up with his colleagues.
