The court ruling said the company did not do enough to let everyone on site know about the dodgy handbrake. Photo: 123 RF
Roadworks company Fulton Hogan has been fined over a runaway truck killing an employee on the highway near Wellington.
Joji Bilo, 25, was struck and killed in March 2019 in Ngauranga Gorge after the truck's handbrake gave way.
The court ruling said the company did not do enough to let everyone on site know about the dangers of the handbrake of a type known to be dodgy since 2004.
"It was known to fail even after initially being properly engaged by a truck's driver," Judge Arthur Tompkins said.
Fulton had banned the brake from its trucks since 2012, but the message did not get through at Ngauranga due to an "informal relationship" it had with the truck operator - which was subcontracting to another company - and patchy communications.
"The principal omission by FHL was its failure to consult and communicate about the health and safety risks at the Ngauranga Gorge worksite with the employees of its contractors and sub-contractors."
Fulton Hogan earlier pleaded guilty to a health and safety charge.
Worksafe recognised Fulton should get a discount for its work since the accident pushing for stricter regulations around the Sanwa Seiki brake.
An effective ban on the unmodified brakes did not come in until 2021.
The judge noted how for years regulators decided that "low-level administrative maintenance measures to guard against failure" were enough.
Fulton had "assumed that potential issues with the brakes in its contractors' and subcontractors' trucks would be managed by New Zealand's regulatory regime".
"Remarkably, the Nissan truck involved in this case had recently received a certificate of fitness with a full pass from VTNZ," the judge said - three days before Mr Bilo was killed.
Police concluded that VTNZ staff "should have been aware of the many safety concerns and alerts previously issued" about the brakes, and that these known faults were present in the Nissan truck.
Judge Tompkins noted the police report said that "had a more thorough inspection been carried out, this fault should have been identified, resulting in the truck being removed from the road for urgent maintenance".
RNZ has approached VTNZ for comment.
Fulton Hogan was fined $13,500, with reparations to the truck driver injured when the vehicle rolled away of $18,000.
Fulton has already paid half a million in reparations to the Bilo family.