Safety warnings for bottling plant days after being caught illegally taking water

Thursday, 30 August 2018

A water bottling plant in Christchurch on the former home the Kaputone Wool Scour has been rapped over the knuckles for health and safety failings.

A water bottling plant in Christchurch has been ordered to tighten its health and safety measures just days after it was caught illegally taking water from a city aquifer.

WorkSafe inspectors discovered a number of failings when they visited Cloud Ocean Water's site in Belfast on Monday.

The China-based company was found to have breached regulations over machinery safety and protective equipment for staff.

While it will not face any penalties for the health and safety failings, inspectors have ordered it to clean up its act.

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The warning came three days after the company was instructed to stop extracting water from a bore against the rules of its resource consent.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said: 'As part of an assessment visit, Cloud Ocean Water was issued with two prohibition notices relating to machine guarding, five improvement notices relating to machinery, personal protective equipment and site traffic management.

Last year a worker at the Cloud Ocean Water construction site was photographed apparently straddling a forklift whilst welding.

'They were also given a directive letter relating to emergency exits.

'WorkSafe New Zealand has been engaging with Cloud Ocean Water as they move into operation.

'Cloud Ocean Water has been receptive to WorkSafe's engagements and appear willing to work to bring their site up to a safe standard. We will be monitoring compliance of these notices.'

A spokeswoman for the company said: 'As we are in the process of commissioning the plant, Cloud Ocean Water is working with our health and safety consultants and authorities to resolve teething issues as soon as possible.

'Cloud Ocean takes its responsibilities very seriously and is committed to providing a safe working environment.'

The firm was ordered to tighten its health and safety standards after being issued with a number of notices last year, including ones about working at heights.

WorkSafe inspectors visited the site a number of times over the last few months as the plant moves towards production.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman declined to reveal any further details about the breaches but confirmed the inspections were not related to reports of injuries.

The organisation monitors thousands of businesses every year.

The latest failings - this image shows an issue that triggered concerns raised last year - involve concerns about machine safety and protective equipment.

The bottling plant has permission to extract around 1.5 billion litres of water a year, which it intends to bottle and sell abroad.

In 2016/17 it issued more than 2000 improvement notices and 1000 prohibition notices as part of its regulatory activities.

It is not the first time Cloud Ocean Water has been censured for health and safety failings at the plant, which is being built on the site of the old Kaputone wool scour.

In November, WorkSafe issued notices over concerns about electrical safety, falls from heights and the general workplace environment during the plant's construction.

Photographs revealed workers standing precariously on the raised forks of a forklift truck while they carried out dangerous jobs, one apparently welding.

Another was spotted straddling the forklift as he worked on a roller shutter beneath a scissor-lift, which could have crushed him if it failed.

The latest failings come in the wake of Cloud Ocean Water taking water from one of its two bores without permission.

A resource consent condition allows the company to extract from a 33m bore on the site but requires it to notify Environment Canterbury (ECan) before it first begins pumping water.

ECan served it with an abatement notice on Friday after it emerged it had been taking water without informing authorities.

The company also failed to provide data on how much water it has taken – another breach of its conditions – though a Cloud Ocean Water spokeswoman said only a 'small' amount of water had been taken illegally.