‘No more families to join this club’
Wife of swimmer killed by Ports of Auckland boat welcomes review into health and safety at the authority
The wife of a swimmer killed by a Ports of Auckland boat is heartbroken that workers have died after incidents at the city’s wharves and doesn’t want any other families to join such a “devastating club”.
Laura McLeod, who lost her husband Leslie Gelberger in a 2017 tragedy, says she was pleased that Mayor Phil Goff and Auckland Council were shining a light on the culture at the Ports of Auckland and “holding it to account”.
Her comments followed yesterday’s release of an independent review at the port, which found systemic problems with health and safety at the councilowned business.
“The fact that there have been two further deaths since the death of my husband, which itself was a product of a culture that prioritises productivity over welfare, is heartbreaking,” McLeod said.
“How many deaths does it take to have them concretely change their ways and, as recommended, prioritise safety over profits?”
She said her heart goes out to the families of Palaamo Kalati and Laboom Midnight Dyer, who both died after port-related incidents.
In August last year, father-ofseven Kalati, 31, a stevedore, was crushed to death by a container on a ship at the Fergusson Container Terminal.
In 2018, 23-year-old Laboom Midnight Dyer died after a straddle carrier he was driving tipped over.
“I do not want any more families to join such a devastating club,” McLeod said.
In July last year, Ports of Auckland was fined $424,000 for failing to comply with health and safety duties after a pilot boat accidentally struck and killed McLeod’s husband Gelberger in 2017 as he was swimming.
Goff said the review — conducted by Construction Health and Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ) — found a need for significant improvement at Ports of Auckland to ensure that its approach to health and safety reflects the level of risk inherent in port operations.
“Health and safety rules that keep people safe are not ‘a nice to have’. They are a vital component of good management in any workplace.
“When someone goes to work, they should go back home to their families and loved ones,” Goff said.
“The reviewers make a number of recommendations to improve health and safety at the ports, including new requirements for the ports chief executive to prioritise safety over productivity and profitability, improve trust and communication between management and staff, and for a new health and safety manager to report directly to the chief executive and the board.”
Board chairman Bill Osborne acknowledged that the culture of health and safety at the ports had been poor and has fully committed the board to implement the recommendations of the review.
“I now expect Ports of Auckland to implement these recommendations without delay and more importantly to hold management to account on monitoring and compliance.”
Meanwhile, the Maritime Union has called for Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson to go, following the report.
Maritime Union national secretary Craig Harrison said the report confirmed everything the union had said about the failure of port management to keep staff safe over several years. “There is no confidence in the chief executive and the board has not done its job,” said Harrison, who said the first step should be to replace Gibson.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Gibson said he had no plans to resign, saying his focus is making sure the wrongs that have been done are put right.
Gibson said he would stay in the job as long as the board had faith in him. Osborne said the board had confidence in Gibson and senior management’s commitment to drive forward on every recommendation in the report.
How many deaths does it take to have them concretely change their ways and, as recommended, prioritise safety over profits? Laura McLeod