The District Court has imposed a fine and reparation on a
contracting company after one of its employees crashed a work vehicle on the
way home from work. The exact cause of
the accident has not been determined, but it is assumed that the employee fell
asleep while driving at about 2.45 am.
The employee had been working long hours in the two weeks preceding the
accident and had worked for more than 16 hours on the day of the accident.
The Court found the company had failed to put in place a
fatigue management system to identify specific factors that can result in
fatigue, it also failed to put in place maximum work hours and minimum breaks and
to monitor them. It also failed to train
its workers in recognising and understanding fatigue. The District Court said that a starting
position for a fine would have been $650,000 but for discounts for remorse, the
company’s prior safety record, cooperation and its guilty plea.
In addition to the fine the company was also ordered to
pay $80,000 reparation plus $9,300 financial costs to the deceased’s family.
It is worth noting that the employee was offered a lift
home after the work shift, but declined because he wished to take the work
vehicle to his home. He was therefore
not under instruction to drive the work vehicle after his shift, but that did
not alter the company’s liability for his death.
Alan
Knowsley
Employment Lawyer
Wellington
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