Prosecution Details

Being an employer, failed so far as was practicable to provide and maintain a working environment in which its employees were not exposed to hazards and in particular failed to provide and maintain a system of work such that, so far as was practicable, its employees were not exposed to hazards.

The defendant was a company engaged in boat building at its premises in Henderson. An employee was injured while he was preparing to apply bog (a plastic type putty used to give a smooth finish to the exterior of the boat) to a boat. As part of that preparation he was relocating a fan from the stern of the boat to the bow. In order to do so he was required to walk along scaffolding that was erected around the boat. The scaffolding did not follow the contours of the boat and there were no guardrails on open edges adjacent to gaps. The employee fell in a gap between the scaffolding and the boat. The gap in the area where he fell was measured to be 450mm at its narrowest and 900mm at its widest.

The employee fell approximately one metre to an intermediate level of scaffolding and continued to fall to the next level, which was approximately a further 1.5 metres. He suffered abrasions and injuries to his knee and neck and was off work for about three weeks.

It was practicable for the defendant to have provided customised scaffolding that followed the contours of the boat, which would have eliminated the hazard. Alternatively, the defendant could have provided edge protection to the existing scaffolding.

The defendant pleaded guilty. The penalty was imposed under section 19(6).

In imposing the penalty the Magistrate took into account the fact that the defendant was a first offender and had taken steps to rectify the problems.

convicted