Man dies after loader incident at Bluff port
The company who employed a man who died at South Port yesterday is working to support his family.
Emergency services were called about 1.45am after reports of a worker being run over by a loader, police said.
The 54-year-old man died at the scene a short time later.
H W Richardson chief executive Brent Esler said the man was employed by Transport Services Ltd (TSL), and was struck while unloading palm kernel from a ship.
The man was a truck driver for the company. TSL is a rural transport company based in the Western Southland township of Nightcaps, run by the H W Richardson group.
It appeared there had been an incident with the truck, and he got out, Esler said. ‘‘He was out of his truck and was hit by the loader.’’
There were several ships in the port at the time.
‘‘They were taking it [ship contents] to the wharf and unloading it into the store. As soon as the staff found out he had been injured, they tried CPR, but the injuries were such that he didn’t survive.’’
Esler would not name the man, however, he said he was from Invercargill and had worked for TSL for about four years.
‘‘It happened first thing this morning, and [it’s] a devastating experience for all the people involved and for those at the scene and obviously for anyone working at the wharf.
‘‘It’s a high-risk environment and people try their best to manage the risk and, unfortunately, something’s gone wrong.’’
In the 85 years TSL had been operating, this was its first fatality, Esler said.
‘‘[South Port] is devastated by the event and we are doing the best we can for the family at this time and supporting all the staff involved.’’ Worksafe NZ was investigating. A WorkSafe spokeswoman said the organisation was notified of the incident, which involved a loader and a truck, and attended the scene overnight.
It was unable to provide further information because an investigation was under way, she said.
A police media spokeswoman said police were assisting in the investigation, working with the family, and providing victim support services.
St John Ambulance was alerted at 1.39am and two ambulances were sent to the scene, a spokesman said.