A construction company has been fined $200,000 after a worker fell from the scaffold they had been told to assemble, despite their lack of experience Scaffolds will only keep workers safe if they are erected by someone with competence experience, says WorkSafe. Continue →

If a vehicle’s safety features are compromised, then no one should be driving it That’s the message from WorkSafe following the death of a woman who was ejected from a Utility Task Vehicle (UTV), commonly referred to as a side by side. Continue →

All work with gas must be done by the book – because when things go wrong, the consequences can be grave, says WorkSafe Certifying gasfitter Gregory John Smith was repairing a fireplace at a home in Christchurch in July 2019. Continue →

There are over one million hand injuries in the United States per year according to the National Safety Council, many of which could have been avoided by using the proper equipment and tools Industrial hand safety is crucial for working in environments where your hands are vulnerable to cuts and lacerations.  Continue →

D & H Steel Construction has been fined $220,000 for their failure to guard machinery which resulted in a worker having his leg amputated The incident occurred in August 2018 where a worker was operating a machine used to drill, saw and fabricate steel. Continue →

A worker who had been manually felling trees on a wood block was found unresponsive under a fallen tree, having sustained fatal crushing injuries There were no witnesses to the event, however an investigation found it was likely that a tree the worker had felled had brushed past a dead tree, causing the dead tree to uproot and fall, pinning and fatally injuring the worker. Continue →

Failure to ensure simple safety measures, such as machine guarding and supervision are in place, has left a worker with severe injuries after his arm got caught in a machine used to shred tyres Waste Management NZ Limited specialises in waste and environmental services and has sites across the country. Continue →

The Defence Force has been fined $288,750 after not following health and safety guidelines, resulting in the death of a trainee diver during an advanced diving course   In March 2019 a group of trainees was taking part in an 18 week advanced diving course. Continue →

Hand injuries at work account for over 20% of all workplace injuries, according to the U.S. Continue →

Close to $100,000 in fines were handed out after three workers suffered electric shocks in two separate incidents at the same worksite Thor Electrical was engaged by a construction company to complete electrical work at a commercial property site in Henderson, Auckland. Continue →

WorkSafe has been notified of four fatalities on New Zealand farms in September. Continue →

Farmers are being warned that poorly maintained tripod tanks are a serious health and safety risk to fuel users The safety alert from the Fuel Distributors Industry Safety Committee and WorkSafe New Zealand follows a recent incident where a fuel tanker driver was seriously injured on a farm where a tripod overhead tank collapsed while he was filling it. Continue →

A company has been ordered to pay out over $250,000 after a worker lost three fingers and part of his palm as the result of a traumatic amputation in unguarded machinery, just seven weeks into his first job In February 2018 the worker was operating a large finger-jointing machine when it became jammed. Continue →

A sentencing decision released this week which almost cost a company $450,000 is a reminder to all businesses working outdoors that things can go wrong, with tragic outcomes Working on slopes is a daily challenge for many New Zealand businesses navigating undulating terrain. Continue →

All machinery should work safely, even if staff do not comply with rules for safe operation, says the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) after a worker became trapped in still-working machinery that was behind safety guards The accident occurred in the very early hours of 14 November 2018 on the fish processing line of the NZ-registered deep-sea factory trawler San Granit, while it was trawling about 102 km east of Banks Peninsula. Continue →