A life-altering brain injury that left a worker without the ability to taste and smell has led to the country’s first sentencing of a consultancy firm under the work health and safety legislation.
Safe Business Solutions (SBS) consultants gave paid health and safety advice to the employer of Grant Bowling, who was clocking off from his shift at a Taranaki haulage yard when he was hit from behind by an agriculture vehicle and collected in its bucket in August 2020.
He was knocked unconscious and suffered two brain bleeds, permanent loss of taste and smell, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Following the accident, a WorkSafe investigation took place and found Bowling’s employers at the time, Westown Haulage Ltd and Westown Agriculture Ltd, had an ineffective workplace traffic safety plan.
A lack of oversight in that area was the chief health and safety failure, the work safety watchdog said.
Before the accident, SBS had been contracted by the companies to give health and safety advice and identified a “desperate need” for a traffic management plan at the site.
SBS had undertaken to provide one, but had not done so by the time of the accident six months later.
The WorkSafe investigation found no steps were taken to manage the risks of uncontrolled traffic, aside from a small sign about speed at the entrance.
Owned by David and Phillippa Thomas, the family-managed Westown companies operate in the agricultural transport industry and provide farm services from a shared site in Cowling Rd in New Plymouth, where the accident occurred.
The Westown companies were jointly charged with exposing an individual to the risk of harm or illness and, after pleading guilty, were ordered in November 2022 to pay a fine of $270,000 and Bowling $50,000 reparation and $6806 for other losses.
SBS was also charged with exposing an individual to risk of harm, but initially pleaded not guilty.
However, on Friday, after years before the court, the matter came to a close with the sentencing of SBS after the business changed its plea.
Judge Tony Greig fined the company $70,000 and ordered it pay reparations of $28,403.
Following the sentencing, WorkSafe area investigation manager Paul West said in a statement the consultants offered active and ongoing management of health and safety risks, but did not deliver the work they said they would.
“One-way systems, clear separation between vehicles and people, designated crossing points, and speed bumps are measures which could have avoided the incident and the very serious consequences Mr Bowling still lives with.”
He said WorkSafe’s role was to influence businesses and organisations to manage their health and safety risks to keep workers safe.
“If they do not manage these risks, we hold them responsible.
“Businesses paying for specialist health and safety advice need to know both they and their consultants have responsibilities under the law. You need the right consultant helping in the right way to get the right outcomes for workers.”
The accident
At the 2022 sentencing, the court heard that moments before the accident, Bowling, who did seasonal work for Westown Agriculture Ltd, was using an app on his phone to clock off from work at Westown Haulage Ltd.
While on his phone, he had his back turned to his colleague who was driving a telehandler, a vehicle similar to a tractor used for lifting loads.
The colleague became distracted, looking over his shoulder while continuing to drive forward at a slow pace.
Bowling was struck from behind by the telehandler bucket attached to the vehicle’s arm, causing him to fall into it.
While unconscious for a time, he came to and was helped out of the bucket by another worker.
Bowling had to take eight months off work before leaving the Westown businesses and continued to suffer headaches, repetition of his words and poor short-term memory.
He told the court he suffered many financial and physical repercussions from the accident, but it had been the changes to his personality and the strain it had put on his family that upset him the most.
“Since the accident, I get irritable, angry and emotional, and this has affected my relationship with my family,” he said.
“My nature has always been laid back and easy-going, but now I have a short fuse. This really bothers me.”
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