Home › Laws and regulations › Prosecutions › Court summaries › Kingstown Blue Spring Resort Limited
Kingstown Blue Spring Resort Limited
Ensure that tractors are maintained in a way that is safe for use by employees;
Ensure that tractors are regularly serviced to ensure that the brakes, tyres and other components are fit for purpose;
Ensure that employees are trained to safely operate tractors and supervised until competent;
Identify the hazard associated with working with tractors and put into place systems to eliminate or minimise those hazards
Kingstown Blue Spring Resort Limited (trading as Okoroire Hot Spring Hotel)
Arts and recreation
Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel is owned by the defendant company and operates as a tourist resort in Oakoroire.
The victim was employed as a groundsman and part-time bartender. On the day of the incident he was cleaning up branches and twigs from some recently felled trees on the grounds of the resort using a tractor.
The victim parked the tractor near an embankment at the edge of the worksite, where he filled the carry-all with branches and other debris. The victim then mounted the tractor, placed it in neutral and started the machine. The tractor began to roll towards the bank. Due to faulty brakes, the victim was unable to stop the tractor. At the last moment, the victim jumped clear of the tractor. He fell two metres and landed on his back on the gravel path below the embankment. The tractor rolled over the embankment, narrowly missing crushing the victim by approximately 10 cm.
The victim sustained bruising, abrasions and an injured shoulder from the fall.
Section 6 and section 50(1)(a) of the Health and Safety in Employment Act
Auckland - District Court
Last updated 14 September 2017 at 08:43