Head contractor and contractor both liable for injury

A subcontractor making deliveries to a construction site parked a truck with its own unloading crane in a designate parking bay.  Unfortunately, the driver left a child in the truck while unloading using the crane.  The truck rolled down a slope and hit another worker resulting in multiple fractures and other injuries.

The truck company was fined $33,000 and ordered to pay $30,000 reparation.  It should have ensured its policy prohibiting children under 15 from company vehicles was made known to employees and regularly reinforced.  It should also have provided chocks for vehicles when parked on a slope.

The head contractor should have properly communicated its policy banning children under 15 from the site by including it in the site induction and emailing to all suppliers.  It should then have effectively enforced the policy.

The head contractor should also have identified the sloping ground as a risk and communicated that to its subcontractors and staff.

The head contractor was also fined $33,000 and ordered to pay $30,000 reparation.

Alan Knowsley
Health & Safety Lawyer
Wellington