Injury stories
A worker suffered severe arm injuries after a tyre shredder was used without guarding, prompting a GBP £450,000 penalty and reparation.
A communication failure left scaffold workers exposed to caustic soda vapour, causing chemical burns and triggering more than GBP £300,000 in fines.
Supervisory lapses during a dive course exposed trainees to a risk of death, after a trainee diver died and the Defence Force was fined.
Hand injuries make up more than a fifth of workplace cases, with construction and maintenance staff facing the greatest risk of amputation.
Three workers were shocked at an Auckland site after unsafe testing and faulty wiring, prompting close to NZD $100,000 in fines.
Steep terrain, machinery and a child’s death have prompted investigations after four farm fatalities in New Zealand this month.
A collapsing tripod tank has left a fuel driver seriously hurt, prompting regulators to warn farmers to inspect ageing farm fuel stores.
A New Plymouth court has ordered more than USD $250,000 in penalties and reparation after a young worker lost three fingers in unguarded machinery.
A Christchurch meat plant has been fined and ordered to pay reparation after a worker lost four fingers in a cleaning accident.
A Rotorua logging firm’s failure to assess live powerlines left a worker with life-changing burns and triggered the penalty.
Prepared workplaces can cut fatal delays, with alarms, drills and first aid skills helping staff respond within minutes.
A badly installed roof hatch left a worker paralysed in a four metre fall, prompting over GBP £400,000 in reparations and losses.
WorkSafe says the penalty follows a preventable eye injury that left a worker needing emergency cardiac surgery after animal-borne infection.
Businesses working on steep terrain face renewed scrutiny after a forestry rollover in Wellington killed a worker and left a company fined NZD $60,000.
A safety probe says stronger training and machine design are needed after a deckhand died trapped in still-running gear aboard a fishing trawler.
A farm company has been fined GBP £281,250 after a migrant worker suffered life-changing injuries when crushed by a trailer.
A Transport Accident Investigation Commission report says poor cargo-securing guidance left crew exposed to a snapped wire that killed an able seaman in Gisborne.
A worker was injured and the firm fined after unsafe height access equipment failed during shed construction in Kerikeri.
A Timaru lumber yard has been fined after unsafe timber stacking led to a three-year-old boy suffering fatal chest and lung injuries.
A trainee was crushed and badly injured when a truck rolled off wooden blocks in an unsupervised workshop job, exposing safety failings.
