Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
- Philip Holt was so concerned about safety at Solly's, he had applied for another job
- Holt repeatedly raised concerns about safety and training, telling his family he often felt ignored
- The Coroner recommended Solly's clarified its pre-start inspection, to require a driver check of every onboard safety warning system
A Coroner has found a Solly's Freight truck driver who died in a workplace accident was so concerned about safety standards, he had applied for another job.
Philip Holt died in Tākaka on 14 September 2021, when he was pinned between his own runaway truck and another truck, dying of high-force crush injuries.
Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale found Holt was good at asking questions if he did not understand something and had been nervous driving on hills spreading fertiliser, so was moved onto local gravel driving jobs.
Holt's son, Jonathan, described him as intensely safety conscious and he was described as "meticulous" about safety.
Borrowdale said that the 62-year-old had often said to family members that he was "gravely concerned" about the safety standards at Solly's, the adequacy of its staff training, the lack of equipment maintenance, the unqualified truck drivers, and the overall safety of its trucks.
Holt also said that he never knew which truck he was going to be put in on any given day. He would just be told to jump into one and go.
Before his death, Holt had applied for a job with another company because he was so concerned about the state of operations and safety at Solly's.
He was awaiting a response to his application when he died at work.
On the day of his death, Holt was driving a six-wheel Nissan that he had not driven previously, only learning the evening before about his change of duties for the day.
Holt was required to go and help another truck driver that had got stuck in a river while carrying out work.
Holt parked the Nissan about 7 metres away from the front of the other truck, failing to put the handbrake on and left the vehicle in neutral, while it was on a decline.
Holt exited the cab of his truck, with the handbrake alarm, which is designed to alert the driver as to whether the handbrake was applied, going off, before stopping.
The pair then went to met between the two trucks to make plans, and while doing so Holt's truck began to move, taking off down the hill.
Holt ducked in front of the two trucks.
The other driver ran around the back of Holt's truck, expecting to see him standing there, but he was unresponsive, and appeared to be deceased, according the coroner's outline of what occurred that day.
Borrowdale found that Holt died as a result of high-force-crush injuries caused by the vehicle he had been driving.
"Mr Holt had not applied the handbrake to his vehicle, and the gearbox had been left in neutral. These were uncharacteristic errors, as Mr Holt was safety-conscious and experienced."
The vehicle's audio warning system, designed to alert the driver as to whether the handbrake was applied, was faulty and produced an inconsistent and confusing signal, the findings said.
"I consider it likely that Mr Holt - a careful and safety-conscious driver - was confused by the faulty alarms into thinking that the handbrake was applied when it was not."
Borrowdale made a recommendations, including that Solly's clarified its pre-start inspection requirements for each of its vehicles, to require a driver check of every onboard safety and warning system.
Worksafe and the Serious Crash Unit also investigated the incident.
RNZ has approached Solly's for comment.
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