Tourism firm fined $195k after hatch accident in February

A tourism firm in New Zealand will be paying nearly $200,000 after it pleaded guilty to one charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. The charge stems from a February 2020 incident where an employee fell to a height of 2.1 metres from an open hatch aboard one of the company’s vessels. The employee was cleaning the main saloon of the ship before falling directly into the hatch and landing on their back.

According to a media release of Maritime NZ, the hatch was left open by a colleague the night before and the victim was unaware that it was not closed. A series of failures led to the unfortunate accident, as per the results of the investigations of Maritime NZ. The probe revealed that the victim was unaware of the open hatch and was not informed by colleagues that it was not closed prior to the incident.

Safety cones were present around the hatch, but they were insufficient and only used when contractors were working on board the ship.

Read more: How better employee monitoring enhances workplace safety

Hatches were further identified as a hazard by the company itself, according to the investigation, and yet its officials failed to induct its employees on workplace safety while aboard the ship even if such training was supposed to be in place.

With such evidence at hand, the Queenstown District Court fined the firm $160,000, an additional $35,000 in reparations for emotional harm and consequential loss for the victim, and the costs by the court.

Domonic Venz, Maritime NZ southern compliance manager, said the case is a "powerful example" of how important good training is to avoid such accidents.

According to the official, the company could have taken a lot of actions that could prevent the unfortunate accident.

"We encourage all businesses to proactively protect their workers and passengers from harm so that they return home unhurt," said Venz in a statement.