Poultry company Tegel fined after woman died on first day of work

Wednesday, 15 January 2020

Police on the scene at Broadfields poultry farm after the accident.

Poultry company Tegel has been fined $30,000 after a woman died on a farm that was contracted to the company.

The fine was issued by the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday after Tegel admitted a workplace safety charge of failing to comply with a relevant duty to prevent illness of workers.

Kamila Mun, 51, died when she was hit by a forklift while working at a poultry farm near Christchurch on June 12, 2017.

The charge relates to the death of mother-of-seven Kamila Mun, 51, who was working for Alderson Poultry Transport on a farm at Robinsons Rd, Broadfield, southwest of Christchurch in June 2017.

She had taken a second job with the poultry transport company to help pay for her children's education, but was struck and killed by a forklift on her first day of work.

* Fines of nearly half a million dollars over Canterbury poultry farm death**

Alderson Poultry Transport Ltd was fined $240,000 last month and ordered to pay costs of $7000 after it admitted it failed to ensure an employee's safety at work.

Mun was employed on chicken catching operations. As she was leaving the shed to get a drink, she was struck and run over by a forklift carrying a full module of chickens. She died of crush injuries at the scene.

WorkSafe's investigation revealed Alderson's chicken catching procedures did physical separate catchers from the forklift. The situation had been consistent with industry-wide practice.

Tegel and Alderson's have paid emotional harm reparations for Mun's death, as well as payments for 'consequential loss'.

The owners of the farm have also been charged in relation to the incident and the matter is expected to go to trial later this year.

They will appear in court again for a case review hearing on March 9.