Source: Worksafe New Zealand
WorkSafe New Zealand is calling on farmers to consider how vehicles move inside their barns and sheds, following a sentencing for an horrific death at one of South Canterbury’s biggest agribusinesses.
Louis van Heerden was crushed to death by an hydraulic tailgate on a trailer at Turley Farms Limited near Temuka in March 2022. The 45-year-old had been standing at the back of a dark, narrow shed as a spotter while grass seed was being tipped off the trailer.
WorkSafe investigators found Turley Farms had no specific plan in place for managing farm traffic indoors. In addition, workers should not have been permitted in such a restricted space.
Turley Farms has now been sentenced for its health and safety failings.
“Farmers are tempting fate if they think traffic only needs to be managed outdoors. Without a clear plan for how vehicles and people move around indoor barns and sheds, it’s only a matter of time before something goes terribly wrong,” says WorkSafe’s area investigation manager, Steve Kelly.
“This is a good reminder to take a critical look at how tractors and other vehicles move around inside farm buildings. Clear separation of vehicles and pedestrians is the key component. Signage and designated safe areas are also simple and inexpensive ways to boost safety – especially when compared to a conviction and a fine.”
Following the fatality, Turley Farms has introduced reversing cameras, closing alarms, and isolation valves to the back of its trailers.
Vehicles are a leading cause of death and injury on New Zealand farms, which is why agriculture is a priority sector under WorkSafe’s new strategy. Agriculture accounts for around 25 percent of serious acute harm in Aotearoa while having only six percent of employment.
Businesses must manage their risks, and WorkSafe’s role is to influence businesses to meet their responsibilities and keep people healthy and safe. When they do not, we will take action.
Read WorkSafe’s guidance on safe reversing and spotting practices
Read WorkSafe’s guidelines on managing workplace traffic
Background:
- Turley Farms Limited was sentenced at Timaru District Court on 13 February 2025
- A fine of $247,500 was imposed, and reparations of $201,477 were ordered
- Turley Farms was charged under sections 36(1)(a), 48(1) and 48(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
- Being a PCBU, having a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers who work for the PCBU, including Louis Frederick van Heerden, while at work in the business or undertaking, namely acting as a spotter while plant was being unloaded into a drying shed, did fail to comply with that duty and that failure exposed workers, namely Louis Frederick van Heerden, to a risk of death or serious injury arising from exposure to the risk of being struck or crushed by plant.
- The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.
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