Whakaari Management Limited (WML) has been found guilty of one health and safety charge laid in the wake of the December 2019 White Island eruption which killed 22 people and left dozens more seriously injured. A second charge against WML was dismissed.
It comes after a number of other defendants have either pleaded guilty or had their charges dismissed.
The guilty defendants are due to be sentenced early next year.
WML faces a maximum fine of $1.5m after today's verdict.
WML manages the island on behalf of its owners, who are also the three directors of WML: Andrew, James and Peter Buttle.
The Buttle brothers had individual charges against them dismissed on September 5.
They weren't in court to hear today's judgment — but a group of victims' family members sat in the public gallery.
Delivering his decision, Judge Thomas said: "The charge under Section 37 is proved and WML is convicted.
"The charge under Section 36 is dismissed."
The charges were brought by WorkSafe under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
WML faced two charges related to alleged health and safety failures in the time before the eruption.
Judge Thomas gave "special tribute" today to the survivors who gave evidence during the trial.
"They were a powerful and respectful voice for all of the victims," he said.
The first charge (Section 37, convicted) said WML managed and controlled the island and had not taken reasonable steps to ensure the workplace (Whakaari), the means of entering and exiting the workplace, and anything "arising from" the workplace was without risk to anybody's health and safety.
WorkSafe said this failure exposed people to the risk of death or serious injury.
The case in brief
It comes after years of work ahead of the trial opening in July this year.
At that time, there were six defendants, including WML. But charges against five of those — Andrew, Peter and James Buttle, Tauranga Tourism Services and ID Tours — were dismissed. It left WML as the sole defendant.
Ahead of the trial's opening, a number of other parties had either pleaded guilty or had their charges dismissed as well.
The charges all related to alleged health and safety failings ahead of the fatal December 2019 eruption.
None of them were to do with the eruption itself or the events that followed — for example, the rescue efforts of helicopter pilots.
WorkSafe's handling of the case has come under scrutiny. In addition, the watchdog itself was the subject of an independent review relating to the island's eruption.
That 2021 review found the regulator "fell short of good practice in its regulation of activities on Whakaari White Island over the 2014-19 period" and "improvements are needed in WorkSafe's management of the adventure activities system".
The victims
It brings to a close a years-long wait for many survivors, family members and friends of victims.
Among the victims were Australian Winona Langford and tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman, who were presumed dead after search efforts failed to recover their bodies after the tragedy.
Australian Martin Hollander and his family — Barbara, Berend and Matthew — all died. Barbara and the teenage children were American citizens and Australian permanent residents.
The other fatalities were tour guide Tipene Maangi; Americans Pratap and Mayuri Singh; and Australians Kristine Langford, Anthony Langford, Gavin Dallow, Zoe Hosking, Krystal Browitt, Paul Browitt, Chris Cozad, Karla Matthews, Richard Elzer, Jason Griffiths, Julie Richards, and Jessica Richards.
German man Horst Westenfelder died on July 2, 2020 at an overseas hospital, bringing the death toll to 22.
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