this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2025
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Homegrown Juice Company factory death under WorkSafe investigation (www.nzherald.co.nz)
submitted 1 month ago by passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz to c/newzealand@lemmy.nz
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In many cases, young people are going into jobs without knowing their rights and without knowing what's unsafe. Companies still don't care even after $300,000 fines.

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[–] absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

This is the key sentence

A WorkSafe investigation found that the machine was not interlocked, which would have stopped it from starting while the guarding was open.

As someone who works in heavy industry and programs machines similar to this type of gear.....wow.

The machine had been imported from China and had not been assessed by an engineer in NZ, was not certified and did not comply with NZ standards.

I have seen this also. But you can't just install gear without getting it certified to ASNZS4024 (the machine safety standard)

Worksafe should fuck these guys.

[–] passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Even $300,000 fines won't deter psychopaths. How much money do the managers have to pay personally? They should be banned from managing a business for 5 years. If someone abuses animals they can be banned from owning pets, so why do bad employers get the right to continue managing staff?

[–] absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Law change means that PCBO's can now be held criminally responsible.

If the manager is a PCBO (very likely) this shit is really serious.

[–] passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Does a second incident make it worse for the company and management?

[–] absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Worksafe will investigate and determine that.

It will really depend on what is known by the management.

If it common practice to bypass safety systems, then yes it is worse.

If the operator went out of their way to get around things, then it won't be.

But also, if there was massive pressure for high production numbers, that will also be considered a significant factor.

The detail really masters in these cases.

[–] passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 month ago

Good explanation but I wish that staff would quit in high numbers when companies value production targets more than safety. Nobody should have to die.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Don't FAFO with LO/TO.

[–] jackod@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is the second time someone has died in one of their factories.

[–] passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 month ago

I didn't even know about the first case until last week. People need to stand up for themselves because many of these deaths are preventable. Stupid thing is, the previous fines probably had no effect. And this was after the pike river law when fines became larger.