Firm fined after trench collapse

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 25

Firm fined after trench collapse

PA Auckland A contracting firm has been fined 11050 on charges arising from an accident in which a man was killed when a trench collapsed. Ross Arnott Contractors, Ltd, pleaded guilty in the District Court at Auckland to three charges of failing to observe that an excavation was made safe for workmen, of doing work which should have been notified to the Labour Department, but was not, and of doing notifiable construction work without a safety supervisor. Mr Richard Henshaw, prosecuting, said that in June the company was laying drain pipes in Clonbern Road, Remuera, under contract to the Auckland City Council. A 40m trench had been dug. On June 23 the department was told of a serious acci-

dent. A digger driver had been deepening the trench, but it had collapsed on a man who had been laying pipes, killing him. Mr Henshaw said the depth of the trench had been taken from 1.2 m to 2.8 m with no safety precautions such as shoring. The department, he said, had to be notified of any trench work going deeper than 1.5 metres. No safety supervisor had been appointed. Mr G. Turner, for the company, said that it had been notified only the day before the accident to deepen the excavation. Until then, the work had not come within the notifiable depth. The man laying the pipes was an outside drain contractor. He had had 35 years experience and there was safety equipment at the site which he had not used.