New Zealand company fined following fatal conveyor belt incident

One of the largest fertiliser firms in New Zealand was recently ordered to pay a fine of $420,000 following serious safety lapses in their machinery, which resulted in the fatality of a worker.

A 37-year-old male worker was performing cleaning duties near a running conveyor belt at a company site in Mt Maunganui in July 2023. While attempting to step over the conveyor, he lost his balance and was pulled into the machinery. He unfortunately passed away from his injuries at the site.

A WorkSafe inquiry discovered the conveyor featured unguarded moving rollers and nip points that should have been protected. Furthermore, the factory's procedures allowed employees to clean near the conveyor while it was still running. Compounding the issue, the emergency stop switches were located at a distance that made them difficult for workers to reach quickly.

“Although the company had some safety processes in place, they failed to match the reality of workers trying to find the quickest or most effective way to do a task. In this case, stepping over was quicker than going around the far end of the conveyor or 60 metres to the nearest walkway. A qualified expert can help organisations to ensure that machinery is properly guarded,” says WorkSafe’s Head of Inspectorate, Rob Pope.

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