Forestry owners should face corporate manslaughter charges if found to have not done enough to prevent workplace deaths according the New Zealand’s Labour party. Source: Stuff Co NZ
Labour’s forestry spokesman Shane Jones said the “carnage” in forests needs to be fixed, with major forestry owners putting profits before lives.
A total of 28 people have died in the industry since 2008, including six this year, and almost 900 were seriously injured, sparking calls for action from unions, MPs and families.
Jones said it was time to look at the role of major companies and Timber Investment Management Organisation (TIMOs) and whether their presence was good for the industry overall.
Labour wanted the introduction of corporate manslaughter legislation, under which negligent companies could be slapped with fines of up to $10 million or senior managers jailed for 10 years if the organisation was found to have caused a death.
Jones said he understood the importance of international investment but it had to be “balanced by the duty to protect”.
Forestry contractors and gangs were being squeezed by the major companies and having to exist on narrower margins and were taking risks as a result.
Jones said colleague Andrew Little’s bill on corporate manslaughter, which is currently in the ballot, would be passed if Labour were in power.
“Where there are cases of extreme and egregious neglect such as the case in Pike River, the directors of Pike River, and in these cases these [forestry owners], could very well face corporate manslaughter charges,” he said.
Deborah McMillan, whose husband Shane Frater was killed in a forestry accident near the Napier-Taupo Rd four years ago, backed the call, saying there was a lack of accountability from the companies.
She was disappointed the Government was not backing calls for an inquiry but was pleased the Forest Owners Association, which did not return calls yesterday, had implemented their own.
“They just need to stand up and start putting the people before the profits.”
Labour Minister Simon Bridges said the recent Approved Code of Practice for Safety and Health in Forest Operations along with the new Worksafe New Zealand would improve safety.
The major forestry providers were “seriously animated by this horrific issue”, he said.
They would put financial resources behind that “and I back that because it would indicate … a sense of ownership by those businesses in what is both their and New Zealand’s problem”.
The Government would provide administrative support to the industry inquiry, he said.
The Government had taken steps to address the issue which were already having an impact. Assessments of logging operation had seen one operation closed down with a possible prosecution pending.
The Government was also considering legislation to introduce harsher penalties for employers who put workers’ lives at risk as it aimed to cut workplace injuries and deaths by 25 per cent in the next seven years.
The moves were based on a report by the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety.
