Maimed by automatic doors — who’s at fault?
A woman who was injured by automatic doors at a Hamilton mall has sparked some to raise the question – who is at fault when someone is injured in a public space?
Wendy McLean suffered a broken leg after automatic doors at the Chartwell Shopping Centre failed to detect her walking through.
She spent six weeks in hospital and now needs a walker. Chartwell sent a card, letter and a $350 voucher.
However, it seems if you’re injured while shopping there might actually be no one to blame.
Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago Law School Dr Simon Connell said just because an incident has occurred doesn’t necessarily mean anyone is liable.
Somebody is only liable if a ‘‘legal standard has been set,’’ he said.
However, visitors to a mall should be able to expect they won’t be injured, he said.
After sharing McLean’s story, Stuff was inundated with stories of others being injured by automatic doors, traffic barrier arms or left with ‘‘broken bones’’ after slipping on an unmarked wet floor.
All respondents were pushing for WorkSafe and businesses involved to take better responsibility.
In a letter to 81-year-old McLean the mall said the ‘‘door sensors failed to detect movement after you had put rubbish in the nearby bin’’.
But in a recent statement to Stuff, it said a ‘‘full and thorough investigation was launched following the accident and no mechanical, operational or service issues were detected with the automatic door.’’
Connell said someone may have checked the general workings of the door, but ‘‘if the investigation hasn’t looked into the calibration of the sensors then it might be something has been missed.
‘‘Just because there are no mechanical faults in the door, doesn’t mean that the door and sensors have been configured correctly.’’
He said it was concerning that there’s an angle you can approach the door from that won’t pick up movement.
WorkSafe was made aware of this incident but said it did not reach its threshold for an investigation and closed the file.
In a statement, a WorkSafe spokesperson said the complainant has been advised and WorkSafe understands the mall has taken steps to ensure nobody else is injured.
In a similar scene, Diana Pickard’s now-deceased family friend was ‘‘injured the same way at Chartwell’’ over a decade ago. WorkSafe wouldn’t investigate, Pickard said, because ‘‘I didn’t know the chapter and verse of the incident’’.
In November, Steve Callagher was injured at Bunnings South Hamilton when he was ‘‘hit heavily on the head by the traffic barrier arm in the entrance to the trade department.’’
‘‘I suffered a heavy concussion and required considerable ongoing physiotherapy to resolve the symptoms.
‘‘WorkSafe actually referred me back to Bunnings Health and Safety team.
‘‘After some delays, Bunnings have responded and will be picking up the tab for my medical expenses.
Callagher said it’s an unintended symptom of our no fault ACC scheme that no one is punishable for accidents.
‘‘It just picks up the tab for treatment costs whoever is involved.’’
Two individuals, who wanted to remain unnamed, also saw a family member injured by automatic doors at Chartwell and Bayfair Shopping Centre.
A nan was knocked to the ground and injured her shoulder after the automatic doors closed on her.
Chartwell offered the injured lady ‘‘a $100 gift card and two vouchers to a cafe downstairs.
Another individual was injured after they approached Bayfair’s electronic doors from the side, after sanitising her hands at the dispenser, and was struck on her arm rupturing her skin and causing injury.
‘‘When this was reported to the mall managers they didn’t seem to want to know about it,’’ they said.
Further down south in Christchurch, Pauline Cooper was caught out by closing doors at a Papanui mall after using the Covid-19 tracer app.
There are three ways someone is liable, Connell said.
Under the Health and Safety Act, a business who manages or controls a workplace must ensure entering and exiting the workplace are without risk to any person.
‘‘If a number of people are getting injured, it suggests that things aren’t set up.’’
People are also able to sue a company under civil law, but this is often theoretical.
Because we have ACC, Connell said, ‘‘we’ve handed over the regulatory function of looking into liability and responsibility.’’
Finally, Connell said it’s important in compliance with the building code.
‘‘It’s WorkSafe’s job to determine what things need to be investigated,’’ he said.
WorkSafe said it uses a triage model to determine what actions it will take, including whether it will investigate.
But it’s ‘‘a business is responsible for ensuring work-related risks in a workplace,’’ they said.
WorkSafe investigated 151 incidents from April 2019 to March 2020 and 223 in 2018-19.