Two Christchurch businesses, ABC Aluminium Limited and Ultimate Design & Renovation Limited, have been fined $270,000 after a fatal runaway trailer accident in 2020.
Julian Bruins Yates's van was struck when a trailer detached from a work vehicle on Weka Pass Road in Canterbury.
Ultimate Design and Renovation (UDR) Limited, which owned the A-frame trailer and tow vehicle, and its operational arm ABC Aluminium Limited, have now been sentenced for health and safety failures.
A WorkSafe investigation found the locking handle on the trailer wasn't engaged, and the trailer’s safety chain wasn't connected to the vehicle.
WorkSafe's Catherine Gardner said: "These are routine checks that must be done when towing a trailer. If not, the consequences can be catastrophic,” says WorkSafe’s Head of Specialist Interventions.
"ABC and UDR did not have systems to ensure vehicles were kept in good working order, or systems to ensure drivers visually checked their vehicles before use.
"WorkSafe also found staff had inadequate information, training, instruction, supervision, and experience to safely use the company vehicles and trailers."
She said Yates, 52, was a father of two, who lost his life "through no fault of his own".
"Any business with a vehicle fleet should heed the lessons of this tragedy because it was entirely preventable.”
Both companies were sentenced in Christchurch District Court yesterday.
"A fine of $270,000 was imposed, and reparations of $130,000 were ordered. Both businesses were charged under sections 36(2) and 48(1) and (2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015," WorkSafe said in a statement.
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