Court Summary - at a glance
Date of offence:
11 March 2022
Plea:
Guilty
Decision:
Convicted
Final decision date:
Fine imposed:
Starting point $450,000 – following discounts of 45%, fine imposed $247,500
Safety lessons learned:
The defendant failed to have developed, implemented, maintained, and trained its workers in, an effective safe system of work for unloading loads into drying sheds, including an effective traffic management plan, which:
- ensured that no worker was inside the relevant drying shed during unloading operations except the driver of the plant; and
- included a standard operating procedure (or similar) that ensured the safety of any worker who was in the drying shed (including any spotter) during unloading operations, when it was not reasonably practicable to exclude all workers.
Defendant name:
Turley Farms Limited
Industry:
Agriculture
Date of offence:
11 March 2022
Facts in brief:
On 11 March 2022, a worker, Mr Louis Frederick van Heerden (Louis) sustained fatal crush injuries when acting as a spotter while a trailer was being unloaded into a drying shed. While assisting the driver by unloading the remaining product from the trailer, the victim was crushed by the trailer’s back door, when the driver closed it.
Offence section:
Sections 36(1)(a), 48(1) and 48(2)(c) of HSWA
Date(s) charged:
8 March 2023
Court:
Timaru - District Court
Plea:
Guilty
Final decision date:
Decision:
Convicted
Fine imposed:
Starting point $450,000 – following discounts of 45%, fine imposed $247,500
Maximum fine available:
$1.5 million
Reparation:
Emotional harm – $130,000 to be apportioned between the family as follows:
Widow: $40,000
Daughter: $40,000
Son: $40,000
Father: $10,000
Consequential loss – $65,413.67
Costs – $4,547.24
Widow: $40,000
Daughter: $40,000
Son: $40,000
Father: $10,000
Consequential loss – $65,413.67
Costs – $4,547.24
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