Payout for hurt pupil, teacher after school fall

A Tokoroa teacher and student will receive a six-figure payout after being knocked unconscious and left brain damaged from a falling scaffold.

In June 2018 a Forest View High School teacher and student fell 3.9 metres from a mobile scaffold being used to set up lights in the school’s auditorium.

A safety plan for the scaffold’s use was not in place and it tipped over as it was being moved.

The student and teacher, whose identities have been suppressed, were knocked unconscious and suffered serious lacerations, fractures and brain injuries.

The school’s board of trustees was sentenced in the Tokoroa District Court on Wednesday.

Despite Stuff contacting the Ministry of Education about the incident prior to the sentencing, the ministry has repeatedly failed to meet its obligations under the Official Information Act and is yet to release documents requested.

The judge imposed a reparation payout of $100,000 and a health and safety project order under section 155 of the Health and

Safety at Work Act 2015 in place of a fine.

WorkSafe’s chief inspector of investigations, Hayden Mander, said the incident could have been much worse.

‘‘There were no policies or procedures in place around working from heights, or for student involvement in the use of the scaffold,’’ he said. ‘‘With no safe systems in place, students and staff were exposed to a very real risk of injury and this incident could have had catastrophic consequences.’’

The order will require the board to prepare and present a safety presentation at the national conference of the School Trustees Association in 2020. The focus will be on the need to develop and implement a suitable risk management system for in the classroom and extracurricular activities. The board is also required to prepare a safety article for New Zealand’s online school bulletin, He Pitopito Korero.

The Forest View High School Board of Trustees issued a collective statement on the incident acknowledging its seriousness and its impact on the victims, their families and the wider community.

‘‘The board deeply regrets the harm caused and acknowledges that no injury to any student or employee is acceptable,’’ the statement said. ‘‘As a result of the incident, the board apologised to the student, teacher and their families and ensured that it provided ongoing assistance to them, including reparation payments and managing and supporting their return to work and study.

‘‘The board has also fully co-operated with the authorities throughout the investigation and prosecution and taken a number of remedial actions to ensure such incidents do not occur again, including investing significantly in the redevelopment of the school’s health and safety system, including its risk assessment and risk management systems and the training and supervision of employees working at heights.

‘‘The board’s focus is on learning from this experience to ensure it continues to improve the safety of its workplace while providing a high standard of education for its community.’’

Board member Rachael Waldon refused to answer questions about the current welfare of the student and teacher and whether they had chosen to return to Forest View High School.

Mander said that in 2018, 2136 workers were away from work for a week or longer as a result of falls from heights.