An agricultural company has been ordered to pay over $100,000 after a mechanic was crushed by a truck hoist.
John Austin Limited was fined $36,750 and ordered to pay $65,554 in reparations over the incident last February.
The mechanic was left with two severe breaks to his pelvis, deep bruising and nerve damage when the nine-tonne hoist collapse on top of him. He is unlikely to regain complete use of one leg and spent several months recovering from his injuries in hospital, and has suffered from post-traumatic stress.
John Austin Limited pleaded guilty to charges under the Health and Safety Act.
The mechanic and another employee of John Austin Limited were fixing a truck at a farm in Morrinsville when they were asked to look at another of the company’s trucks with a broken hoist loaded with maize. Once they thought the problem was fixed, the truck was reversed onto a stack of maize and the hoist was lifted to dump its load. Halfway up, the hoist stopped.
Needing to get under the hoist to look at the hydraulic valves and hoses in the chassis, the mechanic wedged a railway sleeper into a hinge of the hoist. While he was under the hoist, a valve burst. The hoist came crashing down, crushing the wedged wood. As he couldn’t get out in time, the mechanic was hit by the hoist on the hip and between his ribcage and pelvis.
“An inadequately secured raised truck hoist is a significant hazard,” says WorkSafe Chief Inspector, Keith Stewart.
“John Austin Limited should have had procedures in place for employees when they worked on a raised truck hoist and those steps should have been properly communicated. The employee should also have had training on repairing truck hydraulic systems so he knew how to work on them safely.”
