Unions demand national standards for port workers after Atiroa Tauiti's death
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Unions in the ports and maritime sectors are calling for national standards to be introduced after a young man died at the Ports of Auckland on Tuesday.
Atiroa Tauiti, 26, died on Tuesday after he “fell from height” while working on a docked container ship.
It is the fourth death involving the port since 2017.
The Maritime Union, Rail and Maritime Transport Union and New Zealand Merchant Service Guild have written a joint letter to the Minister of Workplace Relation and Safety demanding change, saying there is a systemic problem nationwide.
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Tauiti worked as a stevedore for Wallace Investments, the largest private operator at the port.
Rail and Maritime Transport Union general secretary Wayne Butson said Tauiti’s death was devastating.
“Another death in the Ports of Auckland after the last few years is a severe blow and a further sign that something is badly wrong in the port industry.”
Butson said there had also been a number of deaths and serious injuries in stevedoring in other ports.
“This is a systemic issue in the stevedoring industry and not confined to one port or employer.”
The unions were calling for robust and enforceable national standards in health and safety in the industry, Butson said.
They were calling for an investigation into the factors that had caused so many deaths and injuries.
He said issues such as hours of work, shift patterns, productivity pressures, training, fatigue and equipment needed to be looked at.
“From this process, we would expect an outcome of national standards for stevedoring operations in port health and safety to be developed and introduced in an urgent timeframe.”
Butson said unless there was immediate action, it is only a matter of time before another worker’s life is taken, with the devastating implications this can have on families and communities.
Wallace Investments general manager Felix van Aalst previously said the company would be investigating the incident and would fully co-operate with Maritime New Zealand’s investigation.
In August, former Auckland port boss Tony Gibson was charged over the death Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati on August 30, 2020.
The father of seven was crushed to death by a container while working aboard a ship.
An independent review released last March found serious and significant changes were required at the port.