Auckland wharfies make claims of lax safety, near-miss before man was crushed
Monday, 31 August 2020
A former Auckland wharfie claims he narrowly avoided the same fate as a father-of-seven who was crushed to death under a container on Sunday.
Saul Parks is among two former Ports of Auckland workers to speak out following the death of the man on a container ship about 2am, the third fatality involving the port in three years.
Meanwhile, a current employee says port management told staff to continue working at the container terminal near where the man died, while his crushed body remained on the ship.
A Ports of Auckland spokesman said at no time were staff ordered to continue work after the incident or expected to continue against their wishes.
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But it has apologised for some of what was said to staff the morning after the incident, which one worker alleged included a comparison to how police continued working after the recent death of a police officer.
The company rejected “absolutely” the other health and safety allegations made by former workers to Stuff.
Parks said he shared his story with Stuff to push for improved safety at the port, which he claims is a major ongoing issue.
In 2019, he was employed as a lasher, the same role as the man who died on Sunday, working the 12-hour shifts expected of Ports of Auckland stevedores.
Parks said he was working on a platform next to a ship at the Fergusson Container Terminal helping unload containers alongside a crane.
The cranes at the port have brakes to slow the descent of the containers as they approach the ground.
But on that day one crane’s brakes were not working, he claimed.
He said he began to notice instances where the containers were descending rapidly as they approached the platform.
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Then, an inattentive crane driver smashed two 20 foot containers into the platform at speed, causing them to come apart on the ground and nearly collide with him, he claimed.
“They kind of split apart, so I had to run into the hutch, which is a little safety box at the end of the platform there.
“If I hadn’t, it would have had my head taken off.”
Parks said he was then told to be careful because the crane’s brakes weren't working, and to remain in the hutch.
He claimed he was never asked about the incident and no health and safety report was filed.
Another former worker at the port, who drove side straddles among other jobs, claimed his career advancement ground to a halt when he raised a safety issue.
Matt, who did not want his surname used, said he was given a large amount of work one evening shift, which he was due to finish by 11pm.
As the end of his shift approached he was only three-quarters through his assigned duties.
When he spoke to a manager he was given a radio to communicate and told to head back out alone and finish the job, he said.
However, the workers were meant to always be accompanied by someone else for safety reasons, he added.
After he raised the incident as a health and safety issue Matt said his career progression stopped.
“When I brought it up, everything stopped for me.
“It’s not a healthy culture, it’s all about productivity.”
A current worker at the port, who asked to remain anonymous but whose identity Stuff has verified, claimed staff who arrived at the terminal near where the man died on the ship were told to continue working, just five hours after the incident.
The wharfie said he felt this was the “ultimate disrespect' to his dead colleague’s family to continue work while the crushed body still lay on the ship.
“To me it’s Tapu. It’s sacred and just bad luck.”
He said management compared the situation to police continuing to work after the death of Constable Matthew Hunt in West Auckland earlier in the year.
Workers met and decided not to continue working so soon after the death, he said.
Ports of Auckland public relations and communications general manager Matt Ball said staff were not ordered to continue work after their incident, or expected to work, if they did not want to.
“However, we accept that some of what was initially said to staff that morning – while well-intentioned – was not well phrased and we apologise for that.”
Staff were offered support from counsellors who had been brought onto site, and most port workers did not want to work and went home, Ball said.
After the accident work on the ship stopped immediately, he said. No further work on the ship was carried out, aside from tasks required to allow it to sail safely.
Ball said the company rejected the allegations of the former employees.
“We have looked into the safety claims you have put forward and reject them absolutely.”
Asked about what changes would be made in the wake of the incident on Sunday, Ball said the investigation was under way and the cause was not yet fully understood.
“If as a result of the investigation it becomes clear that changes to the way we operate are needed, they will be made.”
Maritime NZ and police are undertaking a joint investigation into the death.
Police are yet to release the man’s name but Stuff understands he was the father of seven children.
The death came less than two weeks after the Ports of Auckland admitted a health and safety charge at the Auckland District Court following the death of 23-year-old Laboom Midnight Dyer two years earlier.
Dyer was driving a straddle carrier on Fergusson Wharf when it tipped. He was seriously injured and died in hospital five days later.
In July, Ports of Auckland and one of its skippers were fined for failing to comply with their health and safety duties after a pilot boat accidentally struck and killed ocean swimmer Leslie Gelberger.