Firm to pay $90K over fatal employee fatigue

Employers are being cautioned about the risks of long hours and employee fatigue after one extremely overworked man died while on his way home.

The unnamed employee had been helping with the harvesting process on a Pukekawa farm before driving a tractor home in preparation for the following day.

Sadly, he crashed the tractor while en route and died as a result of his injuries.

A subsequent WorkSafe investigation identified fatigue as the most likely cause after it was discovered the man had logged a 16.75 hour day before departing the farm and had clocked a staggering 197.25 hours in the two weeks leading up to the incident.

“Getting the job done is important, but not if the hours required to do it put workers at risk of injury or death,” said Simon Humphries, WorkSafe’s deputy GM of investigations and specialist services.

“The life, health and wellbeing of your workers must be your number one priority,” he added.

Humphries’ comments come after the man’s employer – Micheal Vining Contracting – was sentenced in Huntly District Court for failing to ensure the safety its workers.

The company had a health and safety document prepared for them just nine months prior to the accident in which fatigue had been identified as a high rating hazard.

The same document outlined management steps, including the monitoring of work hours and break times, which should be implemented in order to reduce risk.

“This document had not been reviewed or implemented,” said Humphries says. “The warning was there and the company did nothing about it”.

The court indicated that a fine of $325,000 could have been appropriate but a final fine of $10,000 was imposed – the reasons behind the reduction were suppressed.

Further reparation of $80,000 was also ordered along with costs of $2,656.50.

“Seasonal work and tasks like harvest can put a huge amount of pressure on everyone involved,” said Humphries. “Managing the risks is essential.”