Accident costs $263,000

THE aftermath of serious injuries to a Cromwell transfer station worker has cost a Queenstownbased company $263,300.

Worksafe New Zealand yesterday said Trojan Holdings has carried out several ‘‘enforceable undertakings’’, following the incident in June last year.

The man received a fractured leg and a traumatic brain injury when he fell 3m into a waste hopper or pit.

The undertakings are usually an alternative to prosecution.

Trojan Holdings’ AllWaste division operates six transfer stations, across Central Otago, Queenstown Lakes and Southland.

AN incident in which a worker at the Cromwell transfer station was injured when he fell 3m into a waste hopper, or pit, in June 2017, has cost his employer, Trojan Holdings Ltd, $263,300, including GST.

The incident left the worker with a traumatic brain injury and a leg fracture.

WorkSafe New Zealand announced in August it was charging one of the parties involved in the incident, but did not name the party.

In a media release yesterday, WorkSafe’s head of specialist interventions, Simon Humphries, said WorkSafe had accepted an ‘‘enforceable undertaking from Trojan Holdings Limited’’.

An enforceable undertaking is an agreement between WorkSafe and a ‘‘duty holder’’ following a breach, or an alleged breach, of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

It is generally used as an alternative to prosecution.

The undertaking was given by Trojan Holdings director Peter John Carnahan and group health and safety manager Logan Miller.

The Cromwell transfer station is one of six operated in the Central Otago, Queenstown Lakes and Southland districts by Trojan Holdings’ AllWaste division.

According to details in the company’s application for an enforceable undertaking, a skip truck arrived at the station’s hopper tipping area where the victim had set up blocks for the truck to reverse on to and ‘‘against standard process’’ had also opened nearby gates.

Investigations showed it was likely the victim had walked behind the reversing truck which struck him, resulting in him falling into the hopper.

Other workers climbed down to care for him until emergency services arrived.

Since the incident, Trojan Holdings had carried out improvements including locking the gate and redesigning it so it could not be opened during normal operations, and reviewed at Cromwell and other stations.

The total cost of the ‘‘rectifications’’ was ‘‘conservatively estimated’’ at up to $60,000. Plus, the company ‘‘made payments and will offer’’ amends to the victim of $45,000.

The company noted the victim and station owner the Central Otago District Council approved the enforceable undertaking.

The company undertook to pay $25,000 on a new electronic health and safety system to enable easier reporting and ‘‘stronger management’’ of events, $30,000 for ‘‘upskilling’’ across the group, $70,000 on an occupational health adviser, $10,000 on a scholarship for workers and $25,000 on school holiday programmes. The total cost to the company from the incident was $263,300, including GST.

The company supported the victim’s partner and visited the victim in hospital.

The victim returned to work, on restricted hours, for eight months after the incident but had left Central Otago for family reasons, the enforceable undertaking application said.