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Serious work injury costs employer $110,000…

A contractor sustained serious injuries after the work vehicle he was driving was struck by a train while he was working on and around the tracks. Often when a vehicle is hit by a train the fault lies with the vehicle driver and not the train driver.

However, in this case the digger was properly working on the tracks and the train was sent down the track in error.

KiwiRail pleaded guilty in the District Court to breaching the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

They failed to provide effective communication channels to convey train movements to all persons on site, and failed to provide an effective system which ensured that all workers were off the train tracks before any trains passed through.

The Court convicted the company and ordered them to pay $110,000 in reparation to the family of the contractor.