A tractor driver who died in an early morning crash in 2016 had worked nearly 200 hours in the two weeks up to his death.
Photo: 123rf.com
Joshua Park was 23 when he died in October 2016.
Today his employer Micheal Vining Contracting was sentenced over the death after a WorkSafe investigation in the Huntly District Court.
Mr Park had been harvesting on a farm in Pukekawa when he logged a 16.75 hour day before leaving the farm on a tractor.
He crashed at 2.45am in the morning, and died from his injuries.
WorkSafe found he had worked 197 hours in the two weeks up to his death, and fatigue was identified as the cause of the accident.
Michael Vining Contracting was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay reparations of $80,000 was ordered.
A 2016 survey found 43 percent of workers in high-risk sectors were doing the job while overtired, WorkSafe's Darren Handforth said.
"There is an issue that all New Zealand workplaces and WorkSafe will be focusing on to ensure the risks associated with fatigue while working are actively managed appropriately, because we want to avoid this tragic outcome from occuring again."
Mr Handforth couldn't say if the case was at the extreme end of the scale, but said the hours Mr Park had worked was no way to manage a business.
Employees worried about the amount of hours they were working didn't feel comfortable raising issues with their boss, they could call WorkSafe to talk to them about it.
The organisation was working with different sectors to look at ways to manage fatigue in the workplace.