An incident in which a worker at the Cromwell transfer station was injured when he fell 3m into a waste hopper, or pit, in June 2017, has cost his employer, Trojan Holdings Ltd, $263,300, including GST.
The incident left the worker with a traumatic brain injury and a leg fracture.
Worksafe New Zealand announced in August it was charging one of the parties involved in the incident, but did not name the party.
In a media release today, WorkSafe's head of specialist interventions Simon Humphries said WorkSafe had accepted an "enforceable undertaking from Trojan Holdings Limited''.
An enforceable undertaking is an agreement between WorkSafe and a "duty holder'' following a breach, or an alleged breach, of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
It is generally used as an alternative to prosecution.
The undertaking was given by Trojan Holdings director Peter John Carnahan and group health and safety manager Logan Miller.
The Cromwell transfer station is one of six operated in the Central Otago, Queenstown Lakes and Southland districts by Trojan Holdings' AllWaste division
According to details in the company's application for an enforceable undertaking, a skip truck arrived at the station's hopper tipping area where the victim had set up blocks for the truck to reverse onto and "against standard process'' had also opened nearby gates.
Investigations showed it was likely the victim had walked behind the reversing truck which struck him resulting in him falling into the hopper.
Other workers climbed down to care for him until emergency services arrived.
Following the incident, Trojan Holdings had carried out a variety of improvements including locking the gate and redesigning it so it could not be opened during normal operations, and it had reviewed a range of practices specific to the Cromwell station and to the other stations it operates.
The total cost of the "rectifications'' was "conservatively estimated'' at between $40,000 and $60,000.
As well, the company "made payments and will offer'' amends to the victim of $45,000.
The company noted the victim and the Central Otago District Council, which owns the station, had approved the enforceable undertaking.
The company had also undertaken to make a range of other payments.
They included $25,000 on a new electronic health and safety system to enable easier reporting and "stronger management'' of events, $30,000 on "upskilling'' across the group, $70,000 on an occupational health adviser, $10,000 on a scholarship for workers and $25,000 on school holiday programmes.
The total cost to the company as a result of the incident was $263,300, including GST.
The company had supported the victim's partner and visited the victim in hospital on a number of occasions.
In a statement, Trojan Holdings owner Sir John Davies said the company was committed to ensuring all workers "went home safe every day''.
"We regret this incident has occurred to one of our workers.
"No-one expects anyone to go to work and be harmed.
"We take the health and wellbeing of all our staff very seriously.
"This incident has created a sharp reminder that no matter what we are doing we can always improve.
"Some valuable learnings for both our business and the wider industry and community have come from this regrettable incident.''
The victim had returned to work, on restricted hours, for eight months after the incident but had now left Central Otago for family reasons, according to the application for enforceable undertaking.
