A logging company that breached health and safety rules in the case of the the death of a young worker has been described as a cowboy operation.
Families and colleagues of forestry workers killed at work protest at Parliament. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Reece Reid died in November 2012 after a tree he cut down fell on him killing him instantly.
Worksafe New Zealand says a company that contracted Great Lake Harvesting on an earlier job came to them after Mr Reid's death.
They told them they regarded Great Lake Harvesting as a cowboy operation with a poor understanding of health and safety.
Worksafe inspector Lynda West outlined a series of health and safety breaches, including a lack of supervision of inexperienced workers, lack of training, and failing to identify hazards.
Great Lake Harvesting co-owner Murray Clunie told the inquest Reece Reid shouldn't have been felling trees unsupervised.
But Worksafe believed he was told to do it, while being supervised from afar.
The company was prosecuted for Mr Reid's death and found guilty of health and safety violations.
It was fined $34,000 and ordered to pay reparations of $60,000.
