Coroner finds NP & MA Coogan Partnership breached health and safety obligations prior to fatal accident
Photo:
RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
The coroner says the employers of an Irish seasonal worker - killed when a digger touched with overhead powerlines - failed to brief workers on safety procedures ahead of the death.
Sean Clear was electrocuted in February 2023 on Taurewa Station in the central North Island when an excavator being used to free a tractor and mower unit stuck in muddy conditions and came into contact with powerlines carrying 30,000 volts.
In findings released on Thursday, coroner Mark Wilton said a WorkSafe investigation into the death had found Clear's employer, NP & MA Coogan Partnership had breached Health and Safety obligations in a number of ways in the lead-up to the accident.
He said the company had failed to identify and communicate to staff the risk posed by powerlines at the worksite and had failed to take "reasonably practical steps" to ensure the safety of its workers.
Clear had been harvesting silage on the station when the tractor and mower unit he was driving became stuck in mud. He was electrocuted when an excavator - being used to assist - contacted overhead power lines just over seven metres above the ground while chained to the mower unit that Clear was touching.
The coroner said there was an absence of a safety observer or "spotter" to alert the driver of the digger before its boom came within minimum approach distance from the lines, as well as a failure to limit the length of the chain used to lift the mower.
He also said the company had not contacted the power company for advice or requested a technician on site to supervise work near the lines.
Last year Coogan's pled guilty to charges of failing to comply with its duties to keep workers safe and exposing them to the risk of serious injury or death.
Coogan's was ordered to pay a fine of $25,000, as well as $100,000 in emotional harm reparation to Sean Clear's family.
On Thursday, Coroner Wilton said he agreed with comments made by Clear's family at the company's sentencing last year.
"Mr Clear's family and friends spoke at sentencing about their disbelief about what occurred. They were particularly pained that if simple steps had been taken at the time the mower was being moved, the tragedy could have been averted," Wilton said.
The coroner recommended Coogan's update its hazard policy to include guidelines from Electric and Safety Regulations 2010, the New Zealand Electrical Code of Practice for Electrical Safe Distances and the WorkSafe guidelines regarding electrical safety in agriculture.
Wilton said Coogan's needed to ensure existing workers were updated and trained in operating risks and mitigation procedures as well as develop an induction policy to educate and train new workers on the risk management practises in the policy.
He said risk assessment and mitigation planning should be put in place ahead of work going ahead at each of the company's work sites "regardless of whether work has been carried out there in previous seasons".
The coroner noted that WorkSafe had also issued a media release and a safety alert "urging businesses to prioritise safety near overhead electric lines" in response to Clear's death and a coroner's report on another death on a farm from powerline electrocution - issued earlier this year.
Coogan Contracting declined to comment on the findings.
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