School to be prosecuted over boiler death

The scene of the explosion that killed Orewa College caretaker Richard Nel. File photo / Dean Purcell

The Department of Labour has confirmed it is prosecuting an Auckland secondary school over a fatal boiler explosion in June.

Orewa College caretaker Richard Nel died after receiving burns to 90 per cent of his body, while contractor Robin Tubman is still recovering from serious injuries he suffered.

The department would not name either the parties or the specific charges until the charges reached court.

But it said the charges were being laid under the Health and Safety in Employment Act and related to the failure to take all practicable steps to provide a safe workplace.

Orewa's board of trustees chairman Phil Pickford said today the school would defend the charge "vigorously and rigorously".

Mr Pickford questioned the delay in the department's decision, noting that the deadline was about to be reached.

"On December 24 it will be six months since the tragedy and here we are at the 21st," he said.

"They have to prosecute within six months and they have left it to the last minute. Why? I could surmise why, but I'm sure there's another way they could have done it."

He said uncertainty over the issue had been unsettling for the school.

"At the end of the day, it was a tragedy," he said.

"Someone died and someone else was seriously injured, and the school would not have wished that on anyone."

- NZPA