Workplace safety should be paramount in every business, from the humblest of enterprises to multi-national global operators.
But that is not always the case, as the families of the 29 miners who lost their lives at Pike River can attest.
Last week, Pike River Coal was convicted in the Greymouth District Court on all nine charges arising from the November 2010 mining tragedy.
The charges included four of failing to ensure the safety of its employees and four of failing to ensure no employees, contractors or subcontractors were harmed while working at the mine.
Judge Jane Farish heard evidence last month on the lack of safety methods employed by Pike River Coal but reserved her decision until last week. Judge Farish found the breaches by Pike River Coal were ''causative of the explosion and the subsequent deaths of those men who perished''.
''In this case, there were fundamental breaches of the Health and Safety in Employment Act which led to the unnecessary deaths of 29 men.''
Judge Farish will issue a detailed judgement within a fortnight, ahead of sentencing in July.
But there is no doubt from her words about how the neglect of Pike River Coal caused the deaths of the 29 miners, which spread pain and suffering among the Greymouth community.
There is a serious anomaly that will likely continue the suffering, however.
The receivers of Pike River Coal earlier indicated they would not take steps in relation to the charges brought against the company by the former Department of Labour.
The receivers say they had no direct knowledge of the matters which were the subject of the department's prosecution because they all occurred before their appointment.
Given the amounts owing to creditors, the receivers did not consider it in the economic interest of creditors to spend the limited funds available to the company on any defences to the charges.
This was a pragmatic decision in the circumstances, they say.
So who will pay? The limited funds being spoken about by receivers will go nowhere near paying appropriate fines or compensation. There is limited insurance cover, which may be used for such payments.
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union is calling for Judge Farish to impose the maximum penalty on Pike River Coal.
The union says it is the most serious breach of New Zealand's workplace health and safety laws in at least a generation and the sentence must reflect the gravity of the crime.
In reality, Pike River Coal is little more than a shell company, now in receivership. The union is calling for the directors and management of the former coal miner to be made accountable as they were the ones making the decisions at the time of the tragedy.
There are strict rules around the duties of directors, but in the case of Pike River Coal the lines are blurred by the receivership, the date on which the deaths occurred and the forthcoming case against former Pike River chief executive Peter Whittall.
Earlier, VLI Drilling Pty Ltd, of Australia, was convicted on three charges and fined $46,800.
The ramifications of the decision by Judge Farish will be felt throughout the mining community and elsewhere.
The Government will be called upon to tighten rules around the duties of directors. Directors of failed finance companies have regularly appeared before courts in recent months - some receiving imprisonment, others hefty fines.
In the case of Pike River Coal, there seems little chance of directors being called to account. Sadly, there seems little chance of any money being available for anyone, given the parlous state of the finances of the failed company.
Mining is an industry not without risk, but those risks need to be managed. In the case of Pike River Coal, it seems risks and rewards were put before safety.
Without a recognition by authorities of the need for accountability, even in the event of a failed and broke company, 29 people died needlessly on the West Coast - and others will follow.
