Photo: 123 RF
Two Bay of Plenty building firms have been fined and ordered to pay reparations after the death of a 19-year-old apprentice.
Ethan Perham-Turner was killed when 350 kilograms of timber fell on him at a residential building site in Ōmokoroa in March 2022. He was just four months into an apprenticeship with Inspire Building Limited when he was killed.
The firm was fined $30,000 dollars, while the the main contractor on site, Thorne Group, was fined $210,000.
WorkSafe area investigation manager Paul West said Perham-Turner should have been safe, and his death was yet another example of why the construction sector needed to up its game.
"The death of a worker so young is an indictment on the construction sector. Ethan was new to the job, and new to the task of manoeuvring framing. He should have been provided with what he needed to be safe."
He said the framing could have been mechanically lifted into place at little to no extra cost.
"In this case, the supplier delivering the framing had a Hiab and could have lifted it into place if asked."
Thorne Group director Aaron Thorne said it accepts responsibility.
"As main contractor we accept responsibility for the workplace incident and have expressed our sincere regret to Ethan's family that this occurred under our watch."
Thorne said they were taking steps to improve health and safety practices in residential construction.
"Thorne Group remains deeply saddened by the incident and, while we can only imagine what Ethan's family are going through, they remain front of mind for us. We appreciate the enormous effort that has gone into the investigation process to establish [the facts of] what occurred and acknowledge the patience of Ethan's family throughout the process."
West said WorkSafe has seen other similar incidents where workers handling large or heavy frames have been paralysed or killed and the high number of deaths and injuries indicates construction is a very dangerous industry.
"It is unacceptable that companies are not identifying the risks and providing workers with a safe workplace. We can only hope the death of a very young apprentice might motivate the step change required to improve the sector's health and safety performance."
Reparations of $130,000 were ordered to be paid to Ethan Perham-Turner's family, and $15,072 to his co-worker - a fellow apprentice. Both entities were charged under sections 36(1)(a), s 48(1) and (2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.